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Central  University  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 

NOV  1  1  1993 

K'l' 

CI  39  (7/93)                                                                     UCSD  Lib. 
\ 

HUDSON  TAYLOR   IN  EARLY  YEARS 
THE    GROWTH    OF   A   SOUL 


HUDSON    TAYLOR    IN    EARLY    YEARS. 

From  a  portrait  by  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Ricliard  Ilardey,  painted  in  1802,  just  before  he  left  Hull  for  London. 

Frontispiece. 


H 


UDSON    TAYLOR 

IN  EARLY  YEARS 


THE   GROWTH  OF  A    SOUL 


By 

DR.  AND 

MRS.  HOWARD  TAYLOR 

WITH    INTRODUCTION    BY 

MR.  D.  E.  HOSTE 

GENIRAL    DIRICTOR,    CHINA    INLAND    MISSION 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS 
PORTRAITS,  MAPS,  Etc. 


NEW  YORK: 

HODDER  &  STOUGHTON  ;   GEORGE  H.  DORAN  CO. 

CHINA  INLAND  MISSION, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

MCMXII 


TO   SHOW  FORTH 

THY  LOVING-KINDNESS 

IN  THE  MORNING, 

AND  THY  FAITHFULNESS 

EVERY   NIGHT. 


PREFACE 

This  book  makes  no  claim  to  being  anything  but  a  true  and 
grateful  record  of  the  Lord's  dealings  with  our  dear  father 
in  his  early  years.  It  is  not  fiction,  though  the  form  in 
which  it  has  come  to  us  is  unusual,  perhaps,  for  a  biography. 
It  is  the  faithful  story  of  the  growth  of  a  soul  in  the  know- 
ledge and  love  of  God.  Drawn  mainly  from  Mr.  Taylor's 
own  letters  and  recollections,  which  are  freely  quoted,  it 
has  been  pondered  and  prayed  over  until  it  seems  to  have 
lived  again  in  our  hearts. 

Many  a  time  as  it  has  grown  to  completion,  in  spite  of 
hindrances  from  without  and  within  that  only  the  power 
of  God  has  overcome,  we  have  felt  profoundly  that  the  place 
whereon  we  stood  was  holy  ground.  Most  gratefully  do 
we  thank  all  who  have  waited  so  patiently  for  this  book, 
and  to  whose  help  in  prayer  we  know  it  is  largely  due  that 
it  appears  at  length.  May  they  find  in  its  pages  some 
fragrance  of  the  life  they  loved,  because  it  brought  them 
nearer  to  God,  and  strengthened  them  in  seeking  to  live  for 
His  glory  and  the  good  of  many. 

Praying  that  the  cleansing  of  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ  may  be  upon  all  that  is  not  of  Him,  we  commit  it 
now  to  His  blessing  whose  touch  alone  can  turn  the  water 
into  wine. 


Malvern, 
September  22,  191 1. 


Vll 


OUR    INDEBTEDNESS 

Very  thankfully  we  wish  to  acknowledge  all  the  help 
that  has  come  to  us  in  compiling  this  record  from  sources 
other  than  Mr.  Taylor's  own  writings  and  recollections. 
That  his  early  letters  have  been  preserved  at  all  in  an  un- 
broken succession  is  due  to  the  care  of  his  mother,  who 
filled  twelve  manuscript  volumes  with  copies  in  whole  or  in 
part  of  his  correspondence  from  the  time  his  sister  first  went 
to  school. 

And  then  to  that  dear  sister  herself,  now  the  widow  of 
Mr.  B.  Broomhall,  grateful  acknowledgments  are  due. 
The  writers  trust  that  they  may  have  her  forgiveness  for 
giving  her  name  the  prominent  position  in  this  record  that 
it  necessarily  occupies,  without  her  knowledge  or  consent. 
They  can  only  plead  that  truth  would  have  it  so,  well 
knowing  that  the  best  and  sweetest  her  life  has  had  to 
give  have  ever  been  held  at  the  disposal  of  the  Master. 

And  there  are  others,  too  numerous  to  mention  in- 
dividually, who  have  helped  in  various  ways  to  make  this 
book  what  it  is.  For  letters,  photographs,  and  personal 
reminiscences  the  writers  tender  heartfelt  thanks. 

They  desire  also  to  record  their  gratitude  to  God,  that 
through  the  help  of  personal  friends  in  England  and  in 
America  they  have  been  enabled  to  complete  the  manuscript 
of  this  volume  without  expense  of  any  kind  to  the  China 
Inland  Mission.  In  this  respect  the  narrative  is  in  keeping 
with  one  important  aspect  of  that  life  itself,  for  it  was  to 

ix 


X  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Mr.  Hudson  Taylor  a  matter  for  constant  thankfulness  that 
he  was  enabled  from  first  to  last  to  refrain  from  drawing 
financial  aid  from  the  Mission  he  founded,  and  so  long 
sustained  by  faith  and  prayer.  He  was,  on  the  contrary,  a 
considerable  donor  to  its  funds,  carrying  out,  through  all  his 
connection  with  it,  the  spirit  of  the  last  words  quoted  from 
him  in  these  pages.  That  that  spirit  may  be  their  own 
increasingly,  in  common  with  all  who  belong  to  and  sustain 
the  Mission,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  the  writers, 

HOWARD  AND  GERALDINE  TAYLOR. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 


PAGE 

xvii 


PART    I 

ANTECEDENTS,  HOME  AND  EARLY  YEARS 
1776-1849.     Aet.    1-17. 


1.  As  FOR  Me  and  My  House 

2.  Unto  Children's  Children 

3.  Set  Apart  unto  the  Lord 

4.  Nurture  and  Admonition 

5.  The  Finished  Work  of  Christ 

6.  Here  am  I ;  Send  Me 


3 

20 
28 
35 
58 
69 


PART    II 

PREPARATION  FOR  CHINA,  IN  BARNSLEY 
AND  IN  HULL 


1850-1; 


Aet.    17-20. 


7.  The  New  Starting-point    . 

8.  No  Good  Thing  will  He  Withhold 

9.  That  I  may  Win  Christ     . 

10.  From  Faith  to  Faith 

11.  If  it  be  Thou,  Bid  Me  Come 

xi 


83 

94 

107 

126 

139 


xu 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 


PART    III 

PREPARATION  FOR  CHINA,  IN  LONDON  AND 
ON  THE  VOYAGE 

1852-1854.     Aet.   20-21. 

CHAP. 

12.  Nothing  Certain,  Except —  ..... 

13.  The  Lord  will  Provide    ...... 

14.  Light  at  Last  ....... 

15.  I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  ThEE       ..... 


PAGB 

153 
161 

170 

184 


PART    IV 
SHANGHAI  AND  EARLY  ITINERATIONS 

1854-1855.     Aet.  22-23. 


16.  Arrival  and  First  Experiences 

17.  AL^KE  IT  A  Place  of  Springs 

18.  Building  in  Troublous  Times     . 

19.  A  Way  of  Escape    . 

20.  The  First  Evangelistic  Journey 

21.  Our  Plans  of  Usefulness 

22.  Not  Where  Christ  was  Named  . 

23.  A  Vision  of  His  Life-work 

24.  Emptied  from  Vessel  to  Vessel 

25.  Some  Better  Thing 


201 
213 
229 
244 

255 
263 
278 
292 
304 
317 


PART   V 
SEVEN  MONTHS  WITH  WILLIAM  BURNS 

1855-1856.     Aet.  23-24. 

26.  A  Parish  of  a  Million       ..... 

27.  As  Rivers  or  Water  in  a  Dry  Place  . 


327 
337 


CONTENTS 


Xlll 


CHAP. 

28.  Under  the  Shadow  of  the  Almighty  . 

29.  Stedfast,  Unmovable 

30.  On  Whom  the  Mantle  Fell 


PAGE 

353 
359 
374 


PART   VI 
NING-PO  AND  SETTLED  WORK 

1856-1860.     Aet.   24-28. 


31.  My  Thoughts  are  not  Your  Thoughts 

32.  Who  Shutteth  and  no  Man  Openeth 

33.  By  a  Way  that  They  Knew  not 

34.  The  God  that  is  Enough  . 

35.  Ebenezer  and  Jehovah  Jireh     . 

36.  Joy  Cometh  in  the  Morning 

37.  Perfect  in  One 

38.  Our  Joy  and  Crown  of  Rejoicing 

39.  Fishers  of  Men 

40.  What  hath  God  Wrought 

41.  A  Wealthy  Place   . 

42.  Above  all  that  Ye  Ask  or  Think 


387 
399 
409 
429 
440 
445 
451 
457 
469 
478 
486 
493 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING  PAGE 

Hudson  Taylor  in  Early  Years  ....  Frontispiece 
Royston  Parish  Church        ....••  7 

John  Taylor's  Home  .  .  .  •  •  -25 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  and  Mrs.  Hudson      .  .  .  .26 

The  Parish  Church  of  St.  Mary,  Barton-on-Humber     .  .        30 

Mrs.  James  Taylor  ....•••  44 
Mr.  James  Taylor  ....•••  4^ 
Frudd's  Bank  .....••        63 

Dr.  Charles  Gutzlaff 89 

The  home  of  Dr.  Robert  Hardey  ....      107 

Amelia  Hudson  Taylor         .  .  .  •  •  •      1^5 

Kingston  Square  and  "  Drainside/'  Hull  .  .  .      ii9 

A  Tai-ping  tablet  at  Nanking         .  .  .  .  -173 

Pagoda  near  Shanghai  ....••      207 

Waterways  near  Shanghai  .....      256 

Waterways  in  Kiang-su        ......      34^ 

The  Rev.  William  C.  Burns,  M.A.  .  .  .  .381 

The  Quiet  End  of  Bridge  Street,  Ning-po  .  .  .      409 

A  Temple  Courtyard  in  Shanghai  ....      417 

The  Ferry  at  Ning-po  ......      45° 

The  home  at  Bridge  Street,  Ning-po         ....      458 

The  Bridge  Street  premises  and  Canal,  Ning-po  .  .      483 

Entrance  to  Dr.  Parker's  premises,  Ning-po       .  .  .     489 

Mr.  William  T.  Berger         .  .  .  .  .  .492 


xvi  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

MAPS 

PACK 

1.  Hull  in  1851 109 

2.  Parts   of    Kiang-su    and   Cheh-kiang    to    illustrate    Early 

Itinerations.  ......     276 

3.  Estuary  of    the    river   Yangtze   to   illustrate  Journeys  V. 

and  VI.        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .302 

4.  Map  of  China,  showing  all  the  Stations  of  the  China  Inland 

Mission,  191 1  .....  End  of  vol. 


ERRATA 


Page    ix, 

38, 

193. 

214, 

221, 

228, 

277, 

281, 

300. 

346, 

450, 

461, 

SOI, 

ne  26,  for  "that"  read  "the." 

ne  3,  for  "would"  read  "could." 

ne  14,  for  "  illuminating  "  read  "  illuminated. 

ne  4,  for  "  villages"  read  "  villagers." 

ne  8,  for  "really"  read  "nearly." 

ne  17,  for  "ways"  read  "way." 

ne  I,  for  "province"  read  "providence." 

ne  2,  for  "talk"  read  "walk." 

ne  12,  for  "Grave"  read  "Gravel." 

ne  26,  omit  "his  God." 

ne  36,  for  "  fifty"  read  "more  than  forty." 

ne  I,  for  "the"  read  "their." 

ne  6,  for  "gratified"  read  "justified." 


INTRODUCTION 

I  FEEL  it  a  great  privilege  to  respond  to  the  invitation  to 
write  a  brief  introduction  to  this,  the  first  volume  of  the 
hfe  of  the  Founder  of  the  China  Inland  Mission.  In  doing 
so,  I  venture,  first,  to  draw  attention  to  the  latter  part  of 
its  title  :  "  The  Growth  of  a  Soul."  It  will  be  found  that 
this  volume  brings  before  the  reader  an  account  of  the 
influences  which,  in  various  ways  and  in  different  degrees, 
contributed  to  the  formation  of  the  personal  character  of 
Mr.  Hudson  Taylor.  At  first  sight  it  might  appear  to 
some  that  to  devote  not  less  than  half  of  the  biography  of 
one  who  did  a  great  pubhc  work,  to  a  description  of  his 
preparation  for  that  work,  evidences  some  lack  of  the 
sense  of  due  proportion.  The  authors  were  fully  alive  to 
this  aspect  of  the  subject ;  but  as  they  studied  and  pondered 
over  the  materials  at  their  disposal,  it  was  impressed  upon 
them,  with  growing  force,  that  the  experience  and  the  career 
of  Mr.  Taylor  furnished  a  notable  illustration  of  the  truth 
that  when  God  raises  up  a  man  for  special  service  He  first 
works  in  that  man  the  principles  which  later  on  are,  through 
his  labours  and  influence,  to  be  the  means  of  widespread 
blessing  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world. 

Hence,  this  book  has  been  written  not  so  much  as  a 
Uterary  production,  hkely  to  be  read  with  an  interest  such 
as  is  excited  by  the  biography  of  a  man  of  distinction  in 
any  walk  of  life,  but  with  the  earnest  hope  that  it  may 
be  of  practical  service,  in  illustrating  and  emphasising  the 
fact  that,  for  the  purposes  of  Christian  work,  personal 
character,  formed  on  truly  Christian  lines,  is  the  most 
important   factor  ;    further,  that  the  formation  of  such  a 


xviii  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

character  largely  depends  upon  the  choices  made  by  the 
individual  concerned  in  the  opening  years  of  life.  The 
important  part  which  the  influences  of  heredity  and  early 
environment  had  in  moulding  the  personality  of  Mr.  Taylor 
is  ably  brought  out  in  this  work.  The  narrative  makes  it 
quite  clear,  however,  that  these  influences  in  themselves 
would  have  been  inadequate  without  a  moral  response  on 
his  part  to  the  claims  of  truth  and  duty  as  they  presented 
themselves  to  him  in  his  youth. 

Led  by  Divine  grace,  when  still  a  boy,  to  see  in  a  Crucified 
Redeemer  the  Divinely  provided  answer  to  the  problem  of 
his  guilt  as  a  sinner,  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  further 
led,  in  a  very  simple  and  direct  way,  to  accept  the  teaching 
of  that  Redeemer  as  his  supreme  rule  of  life.  It  may  seem 
a  truism  to  say  that  the  conduct  of  the  Christian  is  to  be 
governed  by  the  precepts  of  Christ ;  and  yet  how  many 
there  have  been,  and,  it  is  to  be  feared,  still  are,  who,  having, 
in  the  first  flush  of  new-born  faith  and  love,  taken  the  New 
Testament  as  the  one  and  only  standard  of  discipleship, 
have  either  broken  down  under  the  tests  and  difficulties  of 
such  a  course,  or  have  gradually  yielded  to  the  deadening 
influences  of  conventional  standards  taught  and  practised 
around  them.  Through  the  grace  of  God  it  was  not  so  with 
Mr.  Hudson  Taylor.  Having  accepted  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  his  rule  of  life,  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  led  into 
circumstances  that,  in  various  ways,  severely  tested  his 
fidelity  to  them  ;  and  it  becomes  apparent  in  the  biography, 
that  the  manner  in  which  he  held  on  his  way  in  spite  of 
great  difficulties  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  accepted  not  a 
little  severe  discipline  were,  under  God,  the  main  factors 
in  producing  a  strength  and  a  quality  of  character,  without 
which  the  work  to  which  he  was  called  could  never  have 
been  accomplished. 

A  good  deal  is  written  in  the  present  day  as  to  the  need 
of  living  our  Uves  and  doing  our  work  in  a  scientific  manner. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  much  weakness  and  failure  in  Christian 
life  and  service  may  be  traced  to  a  lack  of  the  scientific 
spirit  in  our  treatment  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  hear 
much,  for  instance,  of  the  need  of  a  fuller  enduement  of 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

spiritual  power  for  the  Church  and  her  representatives  in 
the  mission-field,  if  the  responsibiHties  involved  by  present 
opportunities  are  to  be  adequately  met.  Is  it  sufficiently 
realised,  however,  in  practice,  that  such  enduement,  the 
outstanding  instance  of  which  is  recorded  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  was  bestowed  upon 
people  who,  during  the  preceding  three  years,  whatever 
their  faults  and  limitations,  had  counted  the  cost  and  had, 
without  any  reservation,  responded,  in  intention  at  all 
events,  to  the  conditions  of  discipleship  laid  down  by  their 
Lord  :  so  much  so  that  He  was  able  at  the  close  of  that 
time  to  say  to  them,  "  Ye  are  they  who  have  continued 
with  me  in  my  temptations,  and  I  appoint  unto  you  a  King- 
dom." Just  as  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist  was 
antecedent  and  preparatory  to  that  of  our  Lord,  so  the 
period  of  personal  discipleship — involving  as  it  did  an 
unreserved  placing  of  life  and  all  it  included  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Divine  Master — was  essential  and  led  up  to  Pente- 
cost :  nor  is  there  any  other  path  at  the  present  time. 
Outward  circumstances  alter  with  each  succeeding  age, 
bringing  with  them  a  corresponding  modification  in  the 
external  application  of  the  principles  and  practice  of  our 
Lord  ;  similarly,  their  application  in  the  life  of  each  in- 
dividual will  also  have  a  character  of  its  own.  But  the 
fact  remains  eternally  true  that  the  path  of  discipleship  is 
the  only  road  to  spiritual  power. 

I  venture  to  dwell  upon  this  point  as  illustrated  in  the 
life  of  Mr.  Taylor,  because  experience  shows  that  nothing 
is  easier  than,  in  the  words  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  for  the 
"  wine  to  become  mixed  with  water  "  ;  that  is  to  say,  for 
the  essential  teachings  as  to  conduct  given  us  by  Christ, 
and  subsequently  by  His  Apostles  in  the  Epistles,  to  be 
toned  down  and  adulterated  by  the  admixture  of  ideas 
and  maxims,  not  only  foreign  to,  but  repugnant  to  the 
spirit  of  Christianity. 

The  great  truth  which  is  complementary  to  the  fore- 
going, that  it  is  only  in  union  with  Christ  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  that  the  Christian  has  the  power  to  carry  into  practice 
the  precepts  of  His  Lord,  also  receives  powerful  illustration 


XX  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

in  this  biography.  A  single-hearted,  unreserved  intention 
to  follow  the  Lord,  whilst  essential,  is  by  itself  as  fruitless 
as  the  efforts  of  Sisyphus.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the 
inworking  of  Divine  grace  will  never  be  known  in  its 
victorious  fulness  where  there  is  not  such  an  intention. 

It  is  perhaps  the  highest  tribute  to  the  character  of  Mr. 
Hudson  Taylor  that  it  is  the  recollection  of  what  he  was, 
almost  more  than  what  he  accomplished,  which  is  most 
treasured  by  those  who  were  privileged  to  know  and  work 
with  him.  He  possessed  qualities  both  of  heart  and  mind 
not  often  found  highly  developed  in  the  same  individual. 
Whilst  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  he  was  literally  consumed 
with  a  self-sacrificing  zeal  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel, 
yet  he  was  never  hard  or  unsympathetic  towards  those 
who,  through  various  causes,  were  unable  to  toil  and  to 
suffer  as  he  did :  on  the  contrary,  his  tenderness  and 
sympathy  endeared  him  to  his  brethren,  and  ever  cheered 
those  who  were  disheartened  in  the  fight,  or  laid  aside  by 
illness.  His  gracious,  unassuming  manner,  his  habitual 
kindness  and  gentle  courtesy,  his  tact  and  patience  under 
opposition  and  ill-treatment,  combined  to  bestow  a  pecuhar 
charm  to  his  personality. 

Though  gifted  with  more  than  ordinary  powers  both 
of  thought  and  action,  his  true  humility,  as  well  as  his 
practical  wisdom,  were  evidenced  by  his  readiness  to  confer 
with  his  brethren,  and  by  the  deference  with  which  he 
weighed  the  wishes  and  judgment  even  of  those  many 
years  younger  than  himself.  Never  perhaps  was  there  a 
man  who,  as  he  went  on  in  life,  was  more  free  from  the 
disastrous  mistake  of  despising  "  the  least  of  his  brethren." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  to  his  habit  of  carefully  weighing 
the  views  of  younger  men  was  due  the  receptivity  and 
elasticity  which  his  mind  retained  to  the  end  of  his  service. 

The  fact  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Howard  Taylor  are  the 
authors  of  this  book  would  seem  in  itself  to  render  a  refer- 
ence to  its  workmanship  superfluous.  It  seems  well,  how- 
ever, to  mention  that  they  have  bestowed  upon  it  far  more 
than  ordinary  care  and  labour,  such  as  a  work  of  this  kind 
would  naturally  call  for,  as  the  sense  has  deepened  in  their 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

minds,  and  in  those  of  others,  that  there  were  features  in 
this  biography  which,  if  truthfully  and  adequately  pre- 
sented, were  eminently  calculated,  with  the  Divine  blessing, 
to  convey  lessons  of  deep  and  permanent  import  both  to 
the  Christian  community  at  large  and  also  to  individuals. 

Hence,  not  only  have  exceptional  pains,  involving  often 
much  laborious  research,  been  taken  to  secure  the  strictest 
fidelity  to  truth  in  every  detail  of  the  record,  but  also  no 
labour  has  been  spared  to  present  in  their  right  proportion 
and  their  true  light  the  guiding  principles  of  this  remarkable 
life.  It  is  the  sober  truth  to  say  that  every  page,  and  even 
every  sentence,  has  been  the  subject  of  many  earnest 
prayers  for  the  Divine  blessing,  and  it  may  be  added  that 
the  one  desire  of  the  authors  has  been  that  they  may  be 
the  means  of  conveying  a  message  of  God  which  shall  touch 
hearts  and  alter  hves. 

D.  E.  HOSTE. 


China  Inland  Mission,  London, 
October  19,  1911. 


PART    I 

ANTECEDENTS,    HOME    AND    EARLY    YEARS 
1776-1849,     Aet.   1-17. 


Chap. 


-As  FOR  Me  and  My  House. 
— Unto  Children's  Children. 
— Set  apart  unto  the  Lord. 
— Nurture  and  Admonition. 
— The  Finished  Work  of  Christ. 
— Here  am  I ;   send  Me. 


Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelHng-place  in  all  generations. 
Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth, 
Or  ever  Thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world, 
Even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  Thou  art  God.  .  ,  . 

O  satisfy  us  early  with  Thy  mercy  ; 

That  we  may  rejoice  and  be  glad  all  our  days.  .  .  . 

Let  Thy  work  appear  unto  Thy  servants, 

And  Thy  glory  unto  their  children. 

And  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us  : 

And  establish  Tliou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us  ; 

Yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  Thou  it. 

Psalm  xc. 


CHAPTER    I 

AS   FOR  ME  AND   MY   HOUSE 
1776-1786 

It  was  James  Taylor's  wedding-day,  a  wintry  morning  long 
ago  in  the  north  country.  The  sun  had  not  yet  risen  over 
Brierley  Common,  and  in  the  snowy  valley  Royston  still 
lay  in  shadow.  But  on  Staincross  Ridge  the  young  stone- 
mason was  up  betimes,  making  ready  for  his  bride.  Was 
there  not  water  to  carry  from  the  well  and  wood  to  prepare 
for  the  fire,  as  well  as  wheat  to  thresh  and  take  to  the  mill 
to  provide  for  her  first  baking  ? 

Full  of  life  and  good  spirits,  "  a  noted  singer  and  extremely 
fond  of  dancing,"  ^  Taylor  had  hardly  given  a  serious  thought 
to  the  step  he  was  about  to  take.  He  had  fallen  in  love 
with  bright  little  Betty,  one  of  the  Johnsons  of  Royston, 
in  the  fine  old  church  of  which  he  was  a  bell-ringer  and 
member  of  the  choir.  There  he  had  heard  the  Banns  of 
Marriage  published,  with  much  satisfaction,  on  three 
successive  Sundays  after  the  New  Year.  And  now  the 
auspicious  day  had  come,  Thursday  the  ist  of  February, 
and  all  was  ready  for  the  festivities.  There  would  be  music 
and  dancing,  feasting  and  merry-making,  and  he  and  Betty 
would  be  gayest  of  the  gay.  But  beyond  this  they  antici- 
pated little  save  the  cosy  fireside  in  the  home  that  was  to  be. 

Now,  however,  as  the  young  man  went  out  into  the  frosty 

^  Quoted  from  an  address  by  Mr.  Edward  Taylor  of  Barnsley,  Yorkshire, 
reported  in  The  Barnsley  Chronicle.  January  1880.    See  also  note  i,  page  6. 


4  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

air  to  carry  his  sheaves  to  the  barn/  a  new  line  of  thought 
began  to  present  itself.  Was  it  the  familiar  cottage  next 
door  to  his  own  that  suggested  it,  the  home  of  Joseph  and 
Elizabeth  Shaw,  well  known  throughout  the  country-side  ? 
Was  it  the  music  of  some  hymn  Dame  Betty  was  singing  as 
she  plied  her  morning  tasks  ? 

Not  long  ago,  as  he  could  well  remember,  there  had  been 
more  sighing  than  singing  in  this  good  woman's  lot.  Crippled 
by  an  acute  attack  of  rheumatism,  she  had  been  confined  to 
bed  month  after  month  in  weariness  and  pain.  But  since 
that  memorable  day  when  all  alone  in  the  house  she  had 
"  trusted  the  Lord,"  as  they  put  it,  for  immediate  healing, 
great  indeed  had  been  the  change.  How  astonished  her 
husband  must  have  been  when  he  came  back  a  little  later 
and  found  her  not  only  up  but  sweeping  the  kitchen,  as 
well  and  happy  as  could  be.-  It  had  made  much  stir  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  Taylor,  like  every  one  else,  was  at  a  loss 
to  account  for  what  had  happened — every  one,  that  is,  except 
the  Methodists,  who  seemed  to  think  it  simple  and  natural 
enough.  But  what  credulity  could  surprise  one  in  people 
of  such  extreme  religious  notions  ! 

Those  notions  seemed  to  haunt  him  this  morning,  however, 
strange  as  it  might  seem.  For  what  had  he  to  do  with 
religion  !  he,  the  leader  rather  in  all  that  was  opposed  to 
the  "  revival  "  that  had  invaded  the  neighbourhood  of  late. 
Surely  it  was  enough  that  Farmer  Cooper  and  the  Shaws 
had  turned  Methodist,  bringing  from  Wakefield  preachers 
of  the  new-fangled  doctrines,  who  terrified  people  with 
their  earnestness  about  "  the  wrath  to  come."  Had  not 
John  Wesley  himself  appeared,  one  Mapplewell  "  Feast 
Monday,"  boldly  addressing  the  crowds  in  the  Market 
Place  while  the  Midsummer  Fair  was  going  on  ?  ^     It  was 

1  It  was  the  custom  in  that  part  of  England  to  leave  the  sheaves  in 
stacks  instead  of  at  once  threshing  out  the  wheat.  As  the  flour  was  needed 
for  use,  two  or  three  sheaves  would  be  threshed  at  a  time  and  the  grain 
taken  to  the  mill  for  grinding. 

2  See  the  Account  of  an  Extraordinary  Deliverance,  by  Rev.  J.  Pawson 
in  the  Arminian  Magazine  for  1796,  pp.  409-411.  This  experience  was 
related  to  him  at  Staincross  by  Dame  Betty  herself,  in  the  year  1775,  and 
confirmed  by  many  witnesses. 

*  This,  we  learn  from  Wesley's  Journal,  was  on  July  27,  1761.  That  it 
was  Mapplewell  "  Feast  Monday  "  is  given  on  the  authority  of  The  Barnsley 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  5 

a  courageous  thing  to  do  in  that  Yorkshire  town,  where 
"  bating  the  Methodists  "  had  become  a  favourite  pastime 
with  those  of  the  rougher  sort.  But  the  white-haired 
preacher  had  so  discoursed,  that  day,  that  all  else  had  been 
forgotten,  and  he  was  allowed  to  pass  unmolested  to  the 
Shaws'  cottage  on  the  Ridge,  there  to  rest  till  the  cool  of 
the  day.^  Perhaps  it  was  from  his  lips  young  Taylor  had 
caught  the  words  that  returned  to  him  now  so  persistently, 
as  he  worked  away  in  the  barn  : 

"As  for  me  and  my  house  ...  me  and  my  house  .  .  . 
we  will  serve  the  Lord." 

Yes,  he  knew  what  it  meant  to  serve  the  Lord.  His 
neighbours  lived  that  sort  of  hfe.  But  he  was  no  narrow- 
minded  Methodist  !  Besides,  it  was  his  wedding-day.  He 
was  threshing  wheat  for  Betty's  home-coming.  It  was  no 
time  to  be  thinking  of  religion. 

"  As  for  me  and  my  house." 

Yes,  he  was  about  to  establish  a  new  household  that  day. 
It  was  a  serious  step,  a  great  responsibility.  How  careless 
had  been  his  attitude  hitherto,  how  unthinking  !  But  now 
the  words  would  not  leave  him  : 

"  We  will  serve  the  Lord." 

Hour  after  hour  went  by.  The  sun  rose  high  over  the 
hills,  lighting  the  white-roofed  village  where  the  bride  was 
waiting.  Taylor  was  due  there  long  before  noon,  and  had 
yet  to  don  wedding  apparel.  But  all,  all  was  forgotten  in 
this  first,  great  realisation  of  eternal  things.  Alone  upon 
his  knees  among  the  straw  the  young  stone-mason  was  face 
to  face  with  God.     "  As  for  me  "  had  taken  on  new  meaning. 

Chronicle  for  Saturday,  September  30,  1905,  in  an  editorial  entitled  "  History 
of  Bamsley  and  the  Surrounding  District."  To  the  late  editor,  Mr.  Alex. 
Patterson,  we  are  indebted  for  much  information. 

1  Mapplewell,  as  it  was  called  in  those  days,  is  now  the  busy  mining 
town  of  Staincross,  near  Bamsley,  and  the  Shaws'  cottage  still  stands  on 
the  Ridge  which  divides  it  from  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Royston. 
Substantially  built  of  stone,  it  hardly  shows  the  wear  and  tear  of  two 
centuries,  and  is  the  best  preserved  of  the  few  remaining  dwellings  that 
form  the  oldest  part  of  the  town.  How  interesting  it  was  to  find  oneself 
in  the  pleasant  kitchen  in  which  Wesley  was  once  entertained,  talking  by 
the  fireside  with  a  member  of  the  ver>'  family  that  had  shown  him  hospitahty. 
For  the  cottage  still  belongs  to  the  Shaws,  who  have  occupied  it  from  the 
first ;  and  their  next-door  neighbours  have  been  Taylors  for  many  genera- 
tions. 


6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  fact  of  personal  responsibility  to  a  living  though  unseen 
Being — Love  infinite  and  eternal,  or  Justice  as  a  consuming 
fire — had  become  real  and  momentous  as  never  before.  It 
was  the  hour  of  the  Spirit's  striving  with  this  soul,  the 
solemn  hour  when  to  yield  is  salvation.  And  there  alone 
with  God  James  Taylor  yielded.  The  love  of  Christ  con- 
quered and  possessed  him,  and  soon  the  new  life  from  above 
found  expression  in  the  new  determination  : 
"  Yes,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  ^ 

Thus  the  critical  moments  of  hfe  come  with  little  warning, 
silently  as  the  sunrise  often,  shedding  Divine  illumination 
upon  things  unseen.  All  unexpectedly,  one  day,  we  see  as 
we  have  never  seen  before.  Duty  becomes  plain  in  the 
light  of  eternity.  Then  we  have  reached  a  turning-point 
indeed,  and  everything  depends  upon  the  response  of  the 
soul  to  the  claims  and  promises  of  God.  Had  young  Taylor 
decided  otherwise  that  winter  morning  how  different  the 
sequel  must  have  been  !  It  was  the  httle  beginning,  the  tiny 
spring  from  which  was  to  flow  blessing  not  for  himself  only 
and  his  house  from  generation  to  generation,  but  for  an 
ever-widening  circle  in  England,  China,  and  throughout  the 
Church  of  God.  Such  a  moment  may  come  for  us  to-day, 
fraught  with  far-reaching  issues.    What  is  our  response  to  be  ? 

"  Speak,  Lord,  for  Thy  servant  heareth." 

Were   the   church  bells  ringing   over  the  valley  when 

1  The  definiteness  of  the  stone-mason's  conversion  on  the  morning  of 
his  wedding-day,  and  under  the  circumstances  narrated,  is  ascertained 
from  the  careful  researches  of  Mr.  Edward  Taylor,  embodied  in  several 
Lectures. 

Mr.  Edward  Taylor's  name  is  one  of  the  most  respected  in  Bamsley. 
He  was  for  many  years  a  Local  Preacher  and  leader  in  the  Methodist 
"  Reform  Movement."  Omnivorous  in  his  reading  and  of  strongly 
antiquarian  tastes,  he  made  it  his  business  to  search  out  all  available  infor- 
mation regarding  early  Methodism  and  its  supporters  in  the  district,  and 
left  a  considerable  library  now  in  the  possession  of  his  widow,  his  son  Mr. 
WiUiam  Taylor,  and  his  son-in-law  Mr.  John  Knee,  to  whom  belong  most 
of  his  Lectures  and  other  MSS.  To  each  of  these  members  of  Mr.  Taylor's 
family  we  are  indebted  for  valuable  help.  Though  not  related  to  James 
Taylor  the  stone-mason,  Mr.  Edward  Taylor  was  specially  interested  in 
his  history  as  the  pioneer  and  practically  the  founder  of  the  Methodist 
Movement  in  Bamsley,  and  to  his  records  we  owe  many  of  the  facts  related 
in  this  chapter  concerning  the  marriage  and  after  experiences  of  the  great- 
grandparent  of  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor. 


Photograph  hy  F.  Howard  Tai/lor. 

A    VIEW    OF    THE    TOWER    OF    ROYSTOX    PARISH    CHURCH. 

Showing  the  clock  beside  the  oriel  window. 

To  face  i^age  7. 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  7 

James  Taylor  returned  to  consciousness  of  earthly  things  ? 
It  was  almost  noon.  The  wedding-guests  must  be  in  con- 
sternation as  to  what  had  become  of  him.  Never  surely 
had  the  two  miles  to  Royston  seemed  so  endless  as  when, 
fearing  he  could  not  be  in  time,  he  ran  down  the  long  hill 
from  Staincross  Ridge,  a  new  man  in  a  new  world. 

Where  the  cross-roads  met  in  the  heart  of  the  village 
he  came  in  sight  of  the  church  at  length.  Glancing  appre- 
hensively at  the  clock  by  the  oriel  window,^  what  was  his 
surprise  to  find  that  it  had  come  to  a  standstill,  as  if  in 
sympathy  with  his  dilemma.  Possibly  it  might  not  yet  be 
too  late  ! 

Somewhere  the  bridal  party  was  waiting.  It  was  no 
moment  for  explanations.  To  church  they  went  as  speedily 
as  possible.  The  Vicar  asked  no  questions,  unaware  perhaps 
of  the  ruse  whereby  his  bell-ringers  had  saved  the  day  for 
their  favourite.  The  service  duly  proceeded,  the  Register 
was  signed  in  the  vestry,  and  James  Taylor  and  Betty 
Johnson  were  man  and  wife. 

Very  interesting  it  was  more  than  a  hundred  years  later 
to  hunt  up  the  old  calf-bound  volume  and  come  upon  the 
entry  made  that  day — February  1,  1776.  Much  of  the 
writing  was  faded  on  the  discoloured  page,  but  one  signature 
stood  out  with  startling  clearness,  vividly  recalling  the 
handwriting  of  another  who  long  after  was  to  bear  the 
bridegroom's  name.  There  was  the  same  familiar  shape  of 
each  carefully  formed  letter,  the  same  firm,  characteristic 
style,  as  though  the  quill  had  been  guided  by  the  very  hand 
that  so  often  wrote  in  recent  years  : 

"  Affectionately  yours  in  Christ, 

James  Hudson  Taylor." 

And  not  the  signature  only  is  noteworthy  in  connection 
with  this  old-time  story  ;  the  later  experiences  of  the  stone- 
mason and  his  wife  reveal  traits  of  character  that  also  appear, 

'  This  beautiful  window  high  up  beside  the  clock  is  one  of  the  distinctive 
features  of  Royston  Church.  There  is  said  to  be  only  one  other  like  it  in 
England.  Built  by  the  monks  of  Bretton  not  far  from  their  monastery, 
the  church  is  provided  with  a  chamber  in  the  tower,  designed  apparently  for 
meditation  and  prayer.  Sunny  and  silent,  lighted  by  the  oriel  window,  it  was 
probably  a  favourite  resort  of  the  monks  through  many  generations. 


8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

by  the  blessing  of  God,  in  the  great-grandson  whose  life  we 
trace.  There  is  the  same  singleness  of  purpose,  strength  of 
principle,  love  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  faithfulness  in 
His  service  :  a  rich  inheritance,  bringing  with  it  the  blessing 
promised  "  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation." 

To  begin  with,  there  was  no  compromise  about  the  James 
Taylor  of  long  ago.  Up  to  the  hour  of  his  wedding  he  had 
been  as  far  from  religious  impressions  as  the  most  thoughtless 
of  his  companions.  Now  as  they  left  the  church  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  confess  all  that  had  taken  place.  Simply  and 
earnestly  with  his  young  wife  on  his  arm  he  explained 
that  he  had  enlisted  in  the  service  of  a  new  Master.  This 
meant  among  other  things  no  dancing  at  his  wedding  or 
unseemly  jollification.  Hearing  which  the  bride  exclaimed 
in  dismay  : 

"  Surely  I  have  not  married  one  of  those  Methodists  !  " 

But  that  was  just  what  she  had  done,  little  as  either  of 
them  expected  it.  For  the  warm  love  and  living  faith  of 
the  Staincross  Society  soon  drew  James  Taylor  into  its 
membership.  From  the  Shaws,  Coopers,  and  others  he 
learned  more  of  what  it  really  means  to  serve  the  Lord. 
His  voice  and  fiddle,  foiTnerly  much  in  request  for  revels 
throughout  the  country-side,  were  now  used  only  for  his 
Master,  and  before  long  he  was  gladly  telhng  what  great 
things  had  been  done  for  his  soul. 

And  meanwhile  what  about  Betty  ?  Well,  she  was  far 
from  happy.  Her  heart  told  her  James  was  right,  but  she 
was  most  unwilling  to  share  with  him  the  reproach  of  Christ. 
So  she  grumbled  and  scolded,  and  managed  to  make  things 
generally  imcomfortable.  From  the  first  day  of  their  hfe 
together  James  had  commenced  "  family  prayers,"  but 
Betty  refused  to  join  him  and  busied  herself  ostentatiously 
about  other  things.  At  last  one  evening  she  was  more 
trying  than  usual,  and  more  unreasonable  in  her  reproaches. 
James  bore  it  as  long  as  he  could,  and  then  before  she  knew 
what  was  happening  Betty  found  herself  lifted  in  his  strong 
arms  and  carried  to  the  room  upstairs.  There  he  knelt  down 
and  keeping  her  still  beside  him  poured  out  all  his  sorrow 
and  concern  in  prayer.     She  had  not  realised  before  how 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  9 

much  he  cared.  His  earnestness  solemnised  and  impressed 
her,  and  though  she  would  not  show  it  she  began  to  be 
troubled  by  a  sense  of  sin.  All  next  day  her  distress  deepened. 
How  willingly,  then,  would  she  have  been  as  her  husband 
was  !  In  the  evening  the  Bible  was  brought  out  as  usual 
and  Betty  was  glad  enough  to  Usten.  The  prayer  that 
followed  seemed  just  what  she  was  needing,  and  that  night 
while  James  was  still  on  his  knees  she  entered  into  peace 
with  God.^ 

Thus  at  the  outset  of  their  married  life  these  two  were 
united  in  the  best  of  ways,  and  as  the  years  went  on  they 
became  increasingly  happy  and  helpers  of  one  another's 
faith. 

It  was  a  wonderful  movement  of  the  Spirit  of  God  into 
which  James  Taylor  and  his  wife  were  thus  introduced  in 
a  remote  corner  of  Yorkshire.  All  over  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  similar  conversions  were  taking  place.  Breaking 
in  upon  the  darkness  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  glorious 
Revival  swept  the  land,  saving  it  from  threatened  destruc- 
tion. In  the  Established  Church,  dead  though  it  was  for 
the  most  part,  mighty  men  of  God  were  raised  up — Whitfield, 
the  Wesleys,  Grimshaw,  Rowlands,  Berridge,  and  many 
another,  with  whom  wrought  a  multitude  of  unlettered 
evangelists,  proclaiming  in  humble  spheres  the  saving  grace 
of  God. 

How  terrible  was  the  state  of  things  before  this  work 
began  it  is  hard  for  us  now  to  realise.  In  town  and  country 
alike,  people  were  abandoned  to  vice  and  irreligion  weU-nigh 
incredible  in  our  day,  "  for  the  most  part,"  as  the  Churchman 
Southey  records,  "  in  a  state  of  heathen  or  worse  than 
heathen  ignorance."  The  immorahty  of  the  wealthy 
classes  and  the  indifference  of  the  clergy  were  no  less  menacing 
than  "  the  rudeness  of  the  peasantry,  the  brutality  of  the 

^  The  details  of  Betty  Taylor's  conversion  are  gathered  from  an  address 
by  Mr.  Edward  Taylor,  already  quoted,  and  from  the  written  Recollections 
of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Taylor,  late  of  St.  Leonards,  the  last  surviving  grandson 
of  James  and  Betty  Taylor,  and  uncle  of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir.  With 
his  death  in  1904  there  passed  away  a  man  of  God  indeed,  whose  memory 
will  long  be  fragrant. 


10  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

town  populace,  the  prevalence  of  drunkenness,  the  growth 
of  impiety,  and  the  general  deadness  to  religion."  ^ 

Men  who  in  the  face  of  such  conditions,  with  the  pulpits 
of  the  land  closed  against  them,  fearlessly  took  their  stand 
for  God  and  righteousness,  "  stormed  the  strongholds  of 
Satan,  plucked  thousands  hke  brands  from  the  burning, 
and  altered  the  character  of  the  age,"  needed  an  enduement 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  no  less  mighty  than  that  of  the  first 
evangehsts  who  "  turned  the  world  upside  down."  Like 
them  too  they  had  to  be  prepared  to  "  die  daily,"  that  they 
might  fill  up  that  which  was  lacking  of  "  the  afflictions  of 
Christ,"  For  only  through  hves  laid  down  could  such 
regenerating  work  be  done.  And  not  the  leaders  only,  men 
whose  names  are  honoured  now  the  wide  world  over  : — the 
strength  of  the  Revival  lay  in  the  great  host  of  men  and 
women,  unknown  to  fame,  who  everywhere  rejoiced  to  share 
their  apostohc  labours,  sufferings,  and  success. 

Amongst  these  came  to  be  num.bered  James  and  Betty 
Taylor,  in  a  peculiarly  dark  and  needy  corner  of  the  dark 
and  needy  England  of  those  days.  And  who  shall  say 
that  the  courage,  steadfastness  and  dependence  upon 
God  developed  by  the  conditions  they  had  to  face  do 
not  lie  at  the  foundation  of  much  that  is  recorded  in  this 
book  ? 

A  serious  accident  some  years  after  his  marriage  obliged 
James  Taylor  to  face  the  fact  that  he  must  give  up  his  work 
as  a  stone-mason  and  find  other  means  of  supporting  his 
family.  It  was  a  gloomy  outlook,  for  there  were  fewer  ways 
of  earning  a  livelihood  in  those  days  than  at  present,  and 
country  occupations  to  which  he  was  accustomed  were  all 

1  "  In  this  we  cannot  be  mistaken,"  said  an  archbishop  of  the  time,  "  that 
an  open  and  professed  disregard  of  rehgion  is  become,  through  a  variety 
of  unhappy  causes,  the  distinguishing  cliaracter  of  the  age.  Such  are  the 
dissoluteness  and  contempt  of  principle  in  the  higher  part  of  the  world, 
and  the  profligacy,  intemperance,  and  fearlessness  of  committing  crimes 
in  the  lower  part,  as  must,  if  the  torrent  of  impiety  stop  not,  become 
absolutely  fatal."     See  Archbishop  Seeker's  Eight  Charges. 

Bishop  Butler  went  further  when  he  wrote  in  the  preface  to  his  Analogy  : 
"  It  has  come  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  Christianity  is  no  longer  a  subject 
of  inquiry,  but  that  it  is  now  at  length  discovered  to  be  fictitious.  And 
accordingly  it  is  treated  as  if,  in  the  present  age,  this  were  an  agreed  point 
among  all  persons  of  discernment,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  set  it  up  as 
a  principal  subject  for  mirth  and  ridicule." 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  ii 

beyond  his  strength.  The  only  course  open  to  him  was  to 
leave  the  little  home  on  Staincross  Ridge  and  seek  in  some 
manufacturing  centre  the  hghter  employment  factory  or 
workshop  might  afford. 

Barnsley  was  the  nearest  place  of  the  kind,  a  notoriously 
wicked,  mining  town,  just  across  the  valley  of  the  Dearne. 
"  Drunkenness,  hcentiousness,  and  gambling,  the  three 
great  sins  of  the  nation,"  were  there  especially  rife,  and 
"  scarcely  any  people,"  William  Bramwell  tells  us,  "  raged 
against  the  Methodists  or  persecuted  them  with  such  ferocity 
as  the  people  of  Barnsley."  The  churches  were  deserted 
and  the  ale-houses  overflowing,  with  what  results  may  be 
judged  from  notices  such  as  the  following  which  were  only 
too  common  : 

"  Drunk — a  penny  :  dead-drunk — two-pence  :  clean  straw 
for  nothing"  ! 

It  must  have  been  hard  for  James  and  Betty  Taylor  to 
bring  their  children  into  the  atmosphere  of  a  place  like  this, 
but  when  employment  was  offered  him  in  the  linen-ware- 
house of  Joseph  Beckett,  a  local  magistrate,  at  a  wage  of 
thirteen  shiUings  and  sixpence  weekly  they  could  no  longer 
hesitate.  At  the  top  of  Old  Mill  Lane  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  town  stood  a  four-roomed  cottage  from  which  might 
be  seen  the  wooded  hills  of  their  childhood.  It  was  a  busy 
corner,  for  the  cross-roads  met  at  their  door,  and  the  London 
coach  coming  up  from  the  Market  Place  paused  there  to 
adjust  its  brakes  before  turning  down  the  steep  lane  on  its 
way  to  Wakefield  and  Leeds.  Travellers  were  constantly 
passing  on  the  Sheffield  highway,  and  so  frequent  were  the 
inquiries  as  to  various  destinations  that  the  occupant  of  the 
mansion  opposite  went  to  considerable  expense  to  settle 
the  questions  once  and  for  all.  The  obehsk  he  erected  is 
useful  still,  with  its  modern  lamps  and  full  directions,  and 
when  the  sun  is  setting  its  shadow  falls  upon  the  site  once 
occupied  by  James  Taylor's  modest  dwelling.^ 

Here  then  the  new  arrivals  settled,  finding  it  a  great 

1  The  Taylors'  cottage  has  recently  been  demohshed,  with  several 
others,  to  make  room  for  a  row  of  shops  and  houses  at  the  top  of  Old  Mill 
Lane. 


12  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

change  from  their  old  surroundings.  Living  was  more 
expensive  than  in  the  country,  and  though  the  father  was 
earning  what  was  then  good  wages  it  was  far  from  easy  to 
make  both  ends  meet.  Besides  rent  and  taxes,  there  were  two 
sons  and  three  httle  daughters  to  provide  for,  and  all  they 
had  to  live  on  was  the  small  sum  of  twelve  shiUings  a  week. 
But  what  of  the  remainder  of  the  father's  earnings,  the 
extra  one  and  sixpence  he  received  weekly  ?  Was  it  reserved 
for  special  comforts,  tobacco,  tea,  or  snuff  ?  Was  it  set 
aside  for  winter  clothing,  or  against  "  a  rainy  day  "  ?  No, 
it  was  given,  sacrificed  rather,  for  love  of  One  dearer  to 
them  than  their  children,  more  considered  than  themselves. 
Poor  as  they  were  in  this  world's  goods,  they  had  learned 
the  secret  of  being  "  rich  toward  God." 

In  Betty's  kitchen  stood  a  corner-cupboard  containing 
a  special  cup  into  which,  as  James  brought  home  his  earnings, 
one  shilling  and  sixpence  always  found  their  way.  This 
was  consecrated  money,  never  to  be  touched  save  for  "  the 
support  of  God's  cause  and  the  relief  of  the  poor."  ^  Thus 
they  always  had  something  ready  for  the  Master's  use  ;  and 
the  remainder  of  their  little  income  proved  sufficient  and 
unfailing,  because  the  blessing  of  God  rested  on  it.  It  was 
the  old  story  of  the  widow's  meal  and  oil,  for  the  Lord  wiU 
be  no  man's  debtor.  Oh,  that  cup  in  the  corner-cupboard, 
that  faithful  giving  of  a  ninth  of  everything  (a  tenth  could 
not  suffice  them)  to  the  Lord,  how  much  it  explains  of 
blessing  in  the  lives  of  their  children's  children  ! 

The  loss  of  Christian  fellowship  was  the  change  they  felt 
most  keenly  during  those  early  days  in  Barnsley.  The 
beautiful  church  of  St.  Mary's  a  few  steps  from  their  door 
offered  no  substitute  for  the  meetings  in  Betty  Shaw's 
cottage,  and  of  helpful,  spiritual  ministry  there  seems  to 
have  been  none.  True,  the  Friends  had  a  Meeting  House 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  town,  and  the  Independents  were 
building  on  Crow-well  Hill  the  first  Nonconformist  place  of 
worship.  But  there  was  little  to  choose  between  church 
and  chapel  in  those  days.  Deadness  and  indifference 
paralysed  both  alike,  so  that  as  Bishop  Ryle  puts  it  they 

^  From  Rev.  Samuel  Taylor's  Recollections. 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  13 

"  seemed  at  last  agreed  on  one  point,  ...  to  let  the  devil 
alone  and  do  nothing  for  hearts  or  souls,"  ' 

This  state  of  things  became  a  heavy  burden  on  the  new 
arrivals,  and  they  longed  unspeakably  for  some  voice  to  tell 
the  glad  tidings  that  had  set  them  free.  But  preachers  rarely 
came  from  more  favoured  localities,  and  when  they  did  it 
was  a  sorry  welcome  they  found  in  Barnsley.  Year  in  and 
year  out  James  Taylor  and  his  family  were  distressed  to  see 
"  the  Sabbath  profaned  and  all  kinds  of  brutal,  ferocious, 
and  licentious  games  practised."  '  It  was  little  they  could 
do  to  stem  the  torrent  of  iniquity,  but  it  was  better  than 
nothing,  and  they  could  not  hold  their  peace. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  Betty's  kitchen  was  swept 
and  garnished,  and  a  few  neighbours  gathered  in  for  informal 
meetings.  The  singing  no  doubt  was  an  attraction,  and 
both  James  and  his  wife  were  among  "  the  people  that  do 
know  their  God  "  and  so  can  be  a  help  to  others.  Some 
evidently  received  blessing,  for  in  time  a  Class  was  formed 
which  met  regularly  in  the  little  cottage.^  Eventually  a 
Methodist  Society  was  fully  organised,  and  James  Taylor 
appointed  as  the  first  Class  Leader  and  Local  Preacher  in 
Barnsley. 

Long  before  this,  however,  he  had  been  privileged  to 
"  make  full  proof  "  of  his  ministry  in  truly  apostoUc  ways. 
Down  on  the  Old  Bridge  and  in  the  Market  Place  he  had 
been  in  danger  of  his  life  once  and  again  while  preaching  in 
the  open  air.  Pelted  with  stones  and  refuse,  struck  down 
and  dragged  through  the  mire,  he  had  been  rescued  at  the 
last  moment — only  to  preach  again. 

Returning  from  a  meeting  on  one  occasion  he  was  accosted 
by  a  couple  of  men  who  appeared  to  be  friendly.  Engaged 
in  conversation  with  one  of  them  he  did  not  notice  the 
movements  of  the  other,  who  suddenly  rubbed  into  his  eyes 
a  mixture  of  pounded  glass  and  mud  calculated  to  blind  him 

^  See  The  Christian  Leaders  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  by  Bishop  Ryle. 

2  See  Life  of  Henry  Longden,  by  the  Rev.  William  Bramwell. 

^  "  The  first  Methodist  Class  Meeting  in  Barnsley  was  composed  of 
seven  members,  i.e.  James  and  Betty  Taylor,  Jonathan  Pashley,  John 
Denton,  weaver,  Timothy  Peckett,  mason,  Thomas  Blackburn,  farmer, 
and  his  wife "  (Early  Methodism  in  Barnsley  and  District,  by  Mr.  John 
Knee) . 


14  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

for  life.  Sightless  and  in  desperate  pain  Taylor  was  wholly 
at  their  mercy,  and  there  is  no  knowing  what  might  have 
happened  had  not  Joseph  Beckett  coming  down  Church 
Street  at  the  time  hastened  to  his  assistance.  Seeing  the 
magistrate  the  ruffians  made  off,  but  not  before  Mr.  Beckett 
had  recognised  one  of  them,  a  professed  infidel  and  no  friend 
to  the  Methodists  in  Barnsley.  Poor  Taylor  was  taken 
home  in  great  suffering,  and  it  was  fully  three  months 
before  he  could  return  to  work  again.  His  employer  urged 
him  to  take  out  a  summons,  having  himself  witnessed 
the  occurrence.     But  James  would  not  hear  of  it. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  the  Lord  is  well  able  to  deal  with  them. 
I  would  rather  leave  it  in  His  hands." 

This  did  not  satisfy  the  magistrate,  however,  who  decided 
to  carry  the  prosecution  through  on  his  own  account.  In 
the  witness-box  the  culprit  denied  the  charge,  calling  upon 
God  to  strike  him  blind  if  he  had  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  outrage.  Shortly  after,  all  Barnsley  knew  that  he  had 
lost  his  sight.  For  the  rest  of  his  Ufe  he  had  to  be  led  by  a 
dog  through  the  famihar  streets,  and  ultimately  sunk  into 
extreme  poverty.  His  accompHce  also  was  obhged  to 
confess  that  nothing  ever  prospered  with  him  from  the  time 
of  their  cruel  attack  upon  James  Taylor. 

Such  experiences  in  common  with  others  of  a  less  serious 
character  afforded  abundant  opportunity  for  putting  into 
practice  the  teachings  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  oppor- 
tunities not  lost  upon  James  Taylor  and  his  fellow-Methodists. 

It  was  an  eloquent  sermon  he  preached  in  Eastgate,  for 
example,  when  an  angry  woman  ran  after  him,  frying-pan 
in  hand.  She  had  seen  the  good  man  go  by  wearing  a 
light-coloured  overcoat,  and  thought  it  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity of  provoking  him  into  a  quarrel.  Coming  up  behind, 
she  vigorously  rubbed  the  greasy,  sooty  utensil  all  over 
the  back  of  his  tidy  garment,  using  her  tongue  meanwhile 
to  the  amusement  of  onlookers.  But  it  was  her  turn  to  be 
discomfited  when  Taylor  turned  round  with  a  smile,  suggest- 
ing that  if  it  afforded  her  satisfaction  she  might  grease  the 
front  as  well.  Covered  with  confusion  the  woman  retired, 
-but  the  incident  was  not  easily  forgotten. 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  15 

It  is  said  that  on  his  deathbed  the  infidel  above-mentioned 
sent  for  the  man  he  had  injured,  hoping  to  find  comfort  in 
his  prayers.  But  eager  as  he  was  to  help  his  former  enemy, 
James  Taylor  could  not  pray.  He  tried  and  tried  again, 
but  his  cry  seemed  to  return  from  an  unanswering  heaven. 
The  solemn  words  then  came  to  mind  :  "He  that  being 
often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  cut  ofi, 
and  that  without  remedy."  To  see  an  unrepentant  soul 
pass  into  eternity  was  far  more  terrible  to  him  than  all  the 
persecutions  he  had  endured. 

For  none  of  these  things  moved  him.  He  found  that  it 
was  a  safe  thing  and  a  blessed  to  trust  in  the  living  God. 
The  little  home  at  the  top  of  Old  Mill  Lane  was  increasingly 
happy  and  a  centre  of  blessing  to  others.  Dame  Betty 
in  spite  of  her  household  cares  found  time  to  be  useful  as 
a  Class  Leader  among  the  women.  Their  children  grew  up 
a  joy  and  comfort  to  them,  and  in  all  that  makes  for  true 
prosperity  they  were  enriched  of  God.  Attempts  to  do 
them  harm  were  so  manifestly  overruled  that  they  helped 
rather  than  hindered  their  influence.  And  one  is  not 
surprised  to  learn  that  as  time  went  on  they  with  others  of 
"  these  early  Methodists,  by  their  meekness,  uprightness, 
and  consistent  conduct,  lived  down  opposition  and  took 
their  place  among  the  most  respected  inhabitants  of  the 
town."  ^ 

A  like  change  was  becoming  apparent  all  over  England. 
The  close  of  the  century  that  overwhelmed  the  land  of 
Voltaire  with  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion witnessed,  in  the  home  of  Whitfield  and  the  Great 
Revival,  a  peaceful  transformation  of  national  life  and 
character.^  Long  surviving  his  own  generation,  Wesley 
at  eighty  years  of  age  could  look  out  upon  a  revived  and 
purified  Church  leading  a  people's  progress  toward  righteous- 
ness, liberty  and  enlightenment,  and  welcome  the  dawning 
of  the  day  of  Modern  Missions  that  was  to  extend  these 
blessings  to  a  waiting  world.  His  evangelistic  journeys 
were  now  "  religious  ovations,"  and  he  himself,  "  the  best- 

^  Recollections  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Taylor. 

2  "  Whitfield  and  Wesley  transformed  England  by  giving  to  conversion 
once  more  its  proper  value." — Rev.  R.  F.  Horton,  D.D. 


i6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

known  man  in  England,"  was  honoured  and  beloved  for  his 
work's  sake  where  so  long  he  had  been  hated  and  despised.^ 

This  was  the  period  of  his  long-expected  visit  to  Barnsley, 
the  first  and  only  recorded  occasion  of  his  preaching  there. 
Great  must  have  been  the  joy  of  James  Taylor  and  his 
friends  as  they  prepared  to  welcome  this  father  in  the  faith. 
In  numbers  the  little  Society  had  not  made  much  progress, 
for  those  had  been  difficult  years,  but  in  knowledge  of  God 
and  influence  with  those  around  them  great  headway  had 
been  won.  They  were  able  to  look  forward  to  the  coming 
of  the  great  evangelist  without  anxiety  as  to  the  reception 
that  awaited  him,  and  could  even  arrange  with  the  landlord 
of  the  Old  White  Bear  to  make  use  of  his  spacious  yard 
near  the  Market  Place  for  an  open-air  meeting. 

Wesley  came  to  them  from  Epworth,  the  home  of  his 
childhood,  having  recently  celebrated  his  eighty-third 
birthday.  How  unusual  was  the  vigour  he  enjoyed  both 
of  mind  and  body  may  be  judged  from  the  following  entry 
in  his  Journal,  penned  two  days  before  he  reached  Barnsley  : 

Wednesday,  June  28,  1786  :  I  am  a  wonder  to  myself.  It  is  now 
twelve  years  since  I  have  felt  any  such  sensation  as  weariness.  I  am 
never  tired,  such  is  the  goodness  of  God,  either  with  writing,  preaching, 
or  travelling. 

Thursday  night  was  spent  at  Doncaster,  and  from  thence 
he  drove  over  the  Hickleton  Hills  and  through  the  lovely 
valley  of  the  Dearne.     Somewhere  on  the  road  no  doubt 

1  Well  might  John  Wesley  be  called  "  the  best-known  man  in  England." 
His  labours  had  been  prodigious  for  well-nigh  fifty  years.  TraveHing  on 
horseback  or  by  chaise  from  four  to  five  thousand  miles  annually,  he  had 
estabhshed  in  Great  Britain  alone  more  than  a  hundred  circuits,  in  which 
three  hundred  ministers  and  over  a  thousand  local  preachers  were  making 
Imown  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Acting  on  his  own  memorable  words, 
"  simplify  religion  and  every  part  of  learning,"  he  had  enlisted  the  press 
in  the  work  of  popular  reformation.  "  Cheaper,  shorter,  plainer  books  " 
was  his  motto.  Amid  aU  other  labours  he  found  time  to  keep  up  a  constant 
supply  of  pamphlets,  tracts  and  sermons,  carried  by  his  preachers  to  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  country,  besides  providing  them  with  a  library  of 
over  two  hundred  volumes  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  written  or  edited 
by  himself,  five  works  on  music  and  forty-nine  collections  of  hymns. 

He  preached  in  all  42,400  sermons  after  his  return  from  Georgia  in  1738, 
an  average  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1791  of  more  than  fifteen  every 
week  for  fifty-three  consecutive  years.  His  last  words  were,  "  The  best  of  all 
is  God  is  with  us."  See  History  of  Methodism,  by  Abel  Stevens,  LL.D., 
vol.  ii.  pp.  320,  494,  508,  etc. 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  17 

the  Barnsley  friends  would  meet  him,  but  it  is  hardly  likely 
that  James  and  Betty  Taylor  were  among  their  number. 
For  them  the  morning  hours  would  be  busy,  as  theirs  was 
to  be  the  honour  of  entertaining  the  distinguished  guest. 

Picture  then  the  preparations  in  the  little  cottage  that 
was  to  shelter  John  Wesley  that  night  beneath  its  roof. 
Thousands  of  homes  he  had  visited,  in  which  his  chamber 
may  have  been  finer  and  the  table  spread  before  him  more 
ample  in  its  provision,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  ever 
met  with  warmer  welcome  or  more  genuine  love  for  himself 
and  for  his  Master. 

"  Methodism  had  no  truer  friends  than  this  worthy  couple/'  writes 
a  well-known  citizen  of  Barnsley. ^  "  Their  devotion  increased  with 
their  difficulties.  Persecution  did  but  sharpen  the  edge  of  their  attach- 
ment to  Wesley  and  his  cause.  Their  home  seems  to  have  been  the 
chief  resort  of  preachers  who  came  from  Wakefield  and  other  places. 
What  more  fitting  than  that  they  should  entertain  the  great  evangelist 
himself,  and  so  receive  a  distinction  not  soon  to  be  forgotten." 

That  June  day  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago  has 
left  its  mark  on  Barnsley.  The  arrival  and  progress  of  Mr. 
Wesley  through  the  crowded  streets,  the  scene  in  the  yard 
of  the  Old  White  Bear  with  its  stone  stairway  from  which 
his  discourse  was  delivered,  the  excitement  and  eager  atten- 
tion of  the  multitude,  the  appearance  of  the  venerable  speaker, 
his  earnestness  and  power  in  setting  forth  eternal  things — 
these  and  many  other  recollections  are  treasured  on  the 
library  shelves  of  that  Yorkshire  town  and  in  the  warm 
hearts  of  its  people. 

But  our  present  concern  is  chiefly  with  the  close  of  the 
day  when,  the  great  meeting  over,  the  preacher  was  escorted 
to  the  home  of  his  humble  friends.  It  had  been  a  notable 
address,  lengthened  and  increasingly  earnest  as  the  response 
of  the  audience  was  evident ;  and  now  the  simple  meal  was 
welcome  and  fellowship  with  the  inner  circle  around  Dame 
Betty's   hearth.     Interested   in   all   that   concerned   them 

1  The  late  William  Woodcock,  Esq.,  one  of  the  chief  authorities  upon 
the  history  of  Methodism  in  the  Barnsley  district.  This  gentleman  left 
a  valuable  hbrary  and  collection  of  manuscripts,  now  in  the  care  of  his 
daughter  Miss  L.  Woodcock,  who  generously  spared  no  pauns  in  making 
them  available  for  the  purposes  of  this  book. 

C 


i8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Wesley  would  soon  make  his  sympathy  felt,  winning  the 
hearts  of  the  children  and  the  confidence  of  the  older  people. 
He  may  even  have  heard  the  story  of  James  Taylor's  con- 
version on  his  wedding-day,  and  the  consternation  of  the 
bride  on  learning  that  she  had  actually  "  married  one  of 
those  Methodists  !  " 

And  then  as  twilight  deepened  one  can  well  imagine  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  would  seek  to  strengthen  and  en- 
courage those  he  might  never  meet  on  life's  pilgrimage  again. 

"  Remember,"  we  can  almost  hear  him  say,  "  remember,  you  have 
nothing  to  do  to  compare  in  importance  with  saving  souls.  Therefore 
spend  and  be  spent  in  this  work.  Observe,  it  is  not  your  business  to 
preach  so  many  times  a  week,  or  to  take  care  of  this  or  that  Society, 
but  simply  to  save  as  many  souls  as  you  can,  to  bring  as  many  sinners 
as  you  possibly  can  to  repentance,  and  with  all  your  power  to  build 
them  up  in  that  holiness  without  which  no  man  can  see  the  Lord. 

"  Only  through  unwearied  labour  and  perseverance  can  we  really 
be  '  free  from  the  blood  of  all  men.'  Go  into  every  house  and  teach 
every  one  therein,  young  and  old,  if  they  belong  to  us,  to  be  Christians 
inwardly  and  outwardly.  Make  every  particular  plain  to  their  under- 
standing, fix  it  in  their  memory,  write  it  on  their  hearts.  In  order  to 
do  this  there  must  be  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept.  I  remember 
to  have  heard  my  father  say  to  my  mother,  '  How  could  you  have  the 
patience  to  tell  that  child  the  same  thing  twenty  times  over  ?  '  *  Why,' 
she  answered,  '  if  I  had  told  him  but  nineteen  times,  I  should  have 
lost  all  my  labour.'  What  patience  indeed,  what  love,  what  know- 
ledge, is  requisite  for  this  ! 

"  Oh,  why  are  we  not  more  holy  !  "  he  would  exclaim  with  loving 
insistence.  "  Why  do  we  not  hve  in  eternity,  walk  with  God  all  the 
day  long  ?  Why  are  we  not  all-devoted  to  God,  breathing  the  whole 
spirit  of  missionaries  ? 

"  Alas,  we  are  too  much  enthusiasts,  looking  for  the  end  without 
faithfully  using  the  means.  Do  we  rise  at  four  or  even  five  in  the 
morning  to  be  alone  with  God  ?  Do  we  fast  once  a  week,  once  a 
month  ?  Do  we  even  know  the  obligation  or  benefit  of  it  ?  Do  we 
recommend  the  five  o'clock  hour  for  private  prayer,  at  the  close  of  the 
day  ?     Do  we  observe  it  ?     Do  we  not  find  that '  any  time  '  is  no  time  ? 

"  Oh  let  us  stir  up  the  gift  of  God  that  is  in  us.  Let  us  no  more 
sleep  as  do  others.  Let  us  take  heed  to  the  ministry  that  we  have 
received  in  the  Lord,  that  we  fulfil  it.  '  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might.'  "  ^ 

1  Quoted  from  the  excellent  Rules  drawn  up  by  John  Wesley  for  the 
guidance  of  his  young  preachers  ;    and  from  the  bright,  practical  Con- 


AS  FOR  ME  AND  MY  HOUSE  19 

In  some  such  helpful  intercourse  the  hours  would  fly, 
until  candles  had  to  be  lighted  and  the  guest  who  was  to 
depart  on  the  morrow  escorted  to  his  chamber  under  the 
cottage  eaves.  Was  it  that  night,  beneath  James  Taylor's 
roof,  he  penned  the  entry  in  his  Journal  that  seems  so 
pertinent  to  the  story  of  this  book  ? 

Friday,  June  30, 1786  :  I  turned  aside  to  Bamsley,  formerly  famous 
for  all  manner  of  wickedness.  They  were  then  ready  to  tear  any 
Methodist  preacher  in  pieces.  Now  not  a  dog  wagged  its  tongue.  I 
preached  near  the  Market  Place  to  a  very  large  congregation,  and  I 
believe  the  truth  sank  into  many  hearts.  They  seemed  to  drink  in 
every  word.    Surely  God  will  have  a  people  in  this  place. 

versations  with  his  fellow-workers  that  have  come  down  to  us.  The  full 
title  of  tliis  interesting  work  is  :  Minutes  of  several  Conversations  between 
the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  A.M.,  and  the  Preachers  in  connection  with  him,  from 
the  year  ij  f-jf  ;   published  in  Leeds  in  1803. 


CHAPTER    II 

UNTO   children's   CHILDREN 

1786-1824 

"  For  myself  and  for  the  work  I  have  been  permitted  to  do  for  God 
I  owe  an  unspeakable  debt  of  gratitude  to  my  beloved  and  honoured 
parents  who  have  entered  into  rest,  but  the  influence  of  whose  lives 
will  never  pass  away." 

Thus  wrote  many  years  later  the  child  who  came  to 
gladden  James  Taylor's  home  in  Barnsley  in  1832.  This 
was  not  of  course  the  first  James  Taylor,  who  had  long 
since  passed  to  his  reward,  nor  was  it  even  the  son  who  had 
grown  up  to  take  his  place.  Two  generations  had  come 
in  between  the  visit  of  John  Wesley  to  Barnsley  and  the 
birth  of  the  child  whose  experiences  we  are  to  trace,  in 
whose  life  the  character-building  of  those  early  days  was  to 
bear  rich  fruit. 

That  at  fifty  years  of  age,  amid  all  the  responsibilities 
of  a  great  mission  in  China,  he  should  look  back  with 
"  unspeakable  gratitude  "  upon  the  training  of  his  childhood, 
shows  that  there  must  have  been  right  influences  at  work 
in  that  quiet  home.  What  were  they  ?  Wherein  did  these 
parents  lay  their  son  under  such  indebtedness  ?  What  had 
they  received  themselves  that  was  to  prove  of  so  much 
value  to  others  ?  These  are  important  questions,  the 
answers  to  which  reveal  the  faithfulness  of  a  covenant- 
keeping  God,  whose  blessing  is  promised  "  unto  children's 
children." 

James  Taylor  the  stone-mason,  with  whom  our  story 
opened,  had  the  joy  of  seeing  the  beginning  of  this  blessing 


UNTO  CHILDREN'S  CHILDREN       21 

before  he  passed  away.  The  Httle  Society  he  had  been  the 
means  of  founding  seems  to  have  grown  rapidly  after 
Wesley's  visit.  Dame  Betty's  kitchen  was  no  longer  able 
to  accommodate  the  services,  and  step  after  step  they  were 
led  into  building  for  themselves  a  modest  Chapel  on  Pinfold 
Hill,  near  the  busiest  part  of  the  town.^  Among  the  first 
to  be  received  into  fellowship  in  the  newly  completed 
building  was  young  John  Taylor,  the  stone-mason's  eldest 
son.  This  double  joy  must  have  been  the  crowning  ex- 
perience in  his  father's  life,  which  only  a  few  months  later 
drew  to  its  unexpected  close.  Nothing  is  known  about  his 
passing  away,  save  that  it  took  place  in  1795,  and  even  his 
resting-place  cannot  now  be  traced.  His  was  a  lowly  life, 
and  he  waits  the  resurrection  in  an  unrecorded  grave  ;  but 
in  the  family  he  founded  and  the  cause  he  loved  there 
remain  to  this  day  better  memorials  of  his  faithful  service 
than  any  the  recognition  of  man  can  raise. 

Well  it  was  for  Dame  Betty  and  the  younger  children 
that  John  was  able  in  some  measure  to  take  his  father's 
place.  He  was  now  seventeen  and  in  regular  employment, 
having  learned  the  trade  of  a  reed-maker,  at  which  he  ulti- 
mately achieved  success.  Linen-weaving  was  then  as  it 
stiU  is  one  of  the  principal  industries  of  Barnsley,  and  many 
were  the  hand-looms  needing  the  slender  reeds  between 
which  the  shuttles  flew.  John  Taylor  worked  hard  and 
conscientiously,  and  by  degrees  became  "  of  great  con- 
sequence to  the  staple  trade  of  the  town."  ^     He  was  able 

^  In  the  Public  Library  of  Barnsley  may  be  seen  to-day  a  record  of  no 
little  interest  in  this  connection.  It  was  penned  by  one  Hugh  Burland, 
who  filled  several  large  calf-bound  volumes  with  the  ancient  "  Annals  " 
of  the  town,  among  which  we  come  upon  the  following  in  his  handwriting  : 

"  1791 — The  Wesleyans  of  Barnsley  determined  to  build  themselves  a 
Chapel.  Since  the  visit  of  John  Wesley  they  had  held  Divine  Service  in 
a  room  in  Eastgate.  In  about  three  years  they  accomplished  their  object ; 
for  their  Chapel,  which  was  erected  on  Pinfold  Hill,  was  opened  for  pubUc 
worship  in  1794.  The  whole  was  accomphshed,  including  the  cost  of  site, 
for  the  sum  of  ;^473  :  18  :  3^." 

But  old  Hugh  Burland  does  not  tell  of  all  the  love  and  self-denial,  the 
faith  and  prayer  that  went  into  that  building  ;  the  hours  of  unpaid  labour 
James  and  his  friends  devoted  ;  the  care  they  lavished  upon  every  detail, 
and  the  joy  that  came  to  them  when  at  length  the  whole  was  completed 
and  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God. 

'^  The  following  quaint  epitome  of  the  life  of  John  Taylor  appeared  in 
the  Leeds  Intelligencer  for  October  11,  1834  : 

"  October  6,  Died,  Mr.  John  Taylor,  Linen-reed  Maker,  Barnsley,  aged 


22  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

from  the  first  to  take  his  share  in  the  support  of  the  family, 
and  ere  long  began  to  look  forward  to  a  home  of  his  own 
on  a  very  simple  scale. 

For  hardly  had  he  grown  to  manhood  before  he  came 
to  know  and  love  Mary  the  daughter  of  William  Shepherd 
of  Bradford,  who  happily  returned  his  affection.  The 
parents  seem  to  have  been  of  Scotch  extraction,  and  one 
cannot  but  be  interested  in  them  because  of  this  union 
which  was  to  bring  into  the  Taylor  family  qualities  of  in- 
estimable value.  All  researches  hitherto  have  failed  in 
discovering  much  about  William  Shepherd,  save  that  he 
was  Governor  of  a  gaol,  probably  in  Yorkshire,  "  the  best- 
tempered  man  in  the  world  "  and  a  consistent  Christian. 
Tradition  adds  that  he  was  one  of  Wesley's  earliest  preachers 
and  occupied  a  position  of  influence  among  the  Methodists. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  he  certainly  handed  on  to  his  daughter 
unusual  strength  of  mind  and  body  as  well  as  principles  of 
sincere  and  simple  godliness. 

It  was  not  in  Bradford,  apparently,  that  the  Shepherds 
were  living  at  the  time  of  the  engagement.  That  would 
have  been  a  far  cry  for  busy  people — twenty  miles'  coach- 
ride  from  Barnsley.  In  the  Register  still  preserved  in  the 
beautiful  Church  at  Darfield,  the  bride  is  entered  as  "  Mary 
Shepherd  of  this  Parish,"  and  Darfield  is  within  easy  reach 
of  Old  Mill  Lane.  There  it  was  at  any  rate  that  the  young 
folks  did  their  courting,  when  Mary  was  a  tall,  stately  lassie 
with  a  warm  heart  under  a  quiet  exterior,  and  John  with 
all  his  practical  qualities  was  a  music-loving,  merry  lad  of 
only  twenty-one. 

But  young  as  they  were,  he  was  able  to  provide  for  the 

girl  he  loved.     On  Pinfold  Hill  near  the  Chapel  a  little 

home  was  waiting,  and  Mary  was  fitted  to  make  it  all  a 

home  should  be.     And  so  in  All  Saints'  Church  overlooking 

the  valley  where  the  Dove  runs  into  the  Dearne  they  were 

married  one  May  morning  in   1799,   and  thence  through 

56 :  an  excellent  man  and  most  highly  respected.  Mr.  Taylor  has  been 
an  inhabitant  of  Barnsley  a  great  number  of  years,  and  in  his  business 
has  been  of  great  consequence  to  the  staple  trade  of  the  town.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Connexion,  and  evinced  a  remarkable  fondness 
for  sacred  music.  His  voice  was  a  powerful  counter,  and  was  considered 
by  men  of  science  to  possess  great  harmony." 


UNTO  CHILDREN'S  CHILDREN       23 

blossoming  hedgerows  wended  their  way  together  to  the 
neighbouring  town. 

It  still  stands,  that  quaint  old  cottage,  with  its  sunny- 
kitchen  and  hospitably  open  door  :  the  last  house  in  a 
quiet  court  that  ere  long  was  to  resound  with  children's 
merry  laughter/  Across  the  street,  also,  may  still  be  seen 
the  outside  stairway  leading  to  John  Taylor's  workshop. 
It  was  a  steep  climb  for  little  feet,  but  doubtless  they  helped 
to  wear  the  stones  so  smooth  with  many  a  journey  to  call 
father  when  he  stayed  away  too  long.  For  the  cottage 
overflowed  with  boys  and  girls  and  the  factory  with  business, 
till  the  reed-maker  must  often  have  been  conscious  of  the 
blessing  of  his  father's  God.^ 

In  the  Chapel,  too,  an  overflowing  blessing  had  been  given. 
There  John  and  Mary  were  both  Class  Leaders  among  the 
younger  people,  and  his  voice  and  musical  ability  were 
greatly  valued.  "  Instead  of  the  fathers  shall  be  the 
children  "  was  a  promise  so  abundantly  fulfilled  that  the 
premises,  amply  sufficient  in  James  Taylor's  day,  were  all 
too  small  for  the  succeeding  generation.  John  Whitworth 
the  young  architect  increased  the  difficulty  when  he  started 
an  excellent  innovation  known  as  the  "  Sunday  School." 
Following  the  example  of  Mr.  Raikes  of  Gloucester,  he  set 
about  gathering  in  the  untaught  children  of  the  streets. 
Few  could  be  found  to  encourage,  and  even  he  had  no  idea 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  he  was  undertaking.  But 
when  on  the  day  of  opening  no  fewer  than  six  hundred 
children  crowded  in,  all  eager  to  be  taught,  it  was  evident 
not  only  that  the  school  was  needed  but  that  it  must  have 
larger  premises. 

And  soon  even  opposers  were  surprised  into  approval. 
The  changed  demeanour  of  the  children  impressed  the  town 

^  The  old  home  of  John  and  Mary  Taylor  is  now  known  as  "  Sten 
Court,  five  house,"  and  is  occupied  by  an  elderly  couple,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
William  Irving,  who  well  remember  its  former  owners. 

'•'  Seven  of  John  Taylor's  children  lived  to  grow  up  :  Elizabeth  became 
Mrs.  Cope  ;  John  took  up  his  father's  business  and  left  a  large  family  ; 
Mary  became  Mrs.  Norman  ;  James  was  the  father  of  Hudson  Taylor  ; 
William  was  a  stockbroker  in  Manchester  ;  Sarah  died  unmarried  ;  and 
Samuel  was  for  many  years  useful  and  beloved  as  a  Wesleyan  Minister. 
He  had  a  great  admiration  for  his  mother,  and  used  to  say  that  he  owed 
everything  to  her,  his  father  dying  wliile  he  was  still  a  child. 


24  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

so  much  that  the  landlord  of  a  well-known  tavern  went  in 
search  of  Mr.  Whitworth  and  handed  him  a  guinea  with  the 
request  that  he  would  never  overlook  the  White  Hart  Inn 
when  caUing  for  subscriptions.  Others  helping  in  the  same 
way  it  was  soon  possible  to  erect  a  suitable  building  near  the 
Chapel,  which  gave  the  name  of  School  Street  to  the  hitherto 
quiet  lane  on  which  the  Taylors  lived. 

Not  long  after,  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  Chapel 
also,  which  was  so  much  altered  and  improved  that  James 
Taylor  would  hardly  have  recognised  it  had  he  come  back 
again.  The  reopening  just  after  Christmas,  1810,  was  a 
great  occasion,  when  curly-headed  little  James,  the  grandson 
who  bore  his  name,  was  not  yet  four  years  old.  Young  as 
he  was,  however,  the  rejoicings  of  that  day,  the  decorations, 
singing  and  crowded  meetings,  made  an  impression  that 
never  passed  away,  and  long  years  after  he  loved  to  recall 
the  joy  with  which  the  Chapel  his  grandfather  had  helped 
to  build  was  rededicated  to  the  service  of  God. 

From  the  first,  the  Divine  hand  was  upon  this  little  lad 
in  the  reed-maker's  home,  preparing  him  for  usefulness. 
Educationally,  he  and  his  brothers  had  advantages  unknown 
to  the  older  generation,  for  their  parents  were  able  to  keep 
them  at  school  and  let  them  choose  their  own  line  of  life 
within  reasonable  limits.  One  took  up  the  father's  business, 
another  became  a  stockbroker  and  a  third  a  minister.  James 
wished  to  be  a  doctor,  and  would  have  studied  medicine  had 
circumstances  permitted.  This  being  beyond  his  reach  he 
went  in  for  chemistry  as  the  next  best  thing,  and  was  in- 
dentured to  a  friend  in  a  neighbouring  town. 

Seven  years'  apprenticeship  away  from  home  made  a 
man  of  him  before  he  was  twenty-one,  and  the  even  tenor 
of  a  country  business  gave  opportunities  for  study.  He  was 
quick  and  painstaking,  an  omnivorous  reader  and  methodical 
in  all  his  habits.  Next  to  the  Bible,  theology  was  his 
favourite  study.  Sermons  he  read  extensively,  as  well  as 
good  biographies.  In  order  to  make  the  most  of  his  reading, 
he  developed  a  system  of  shorthand  on  his  own  account, 
which  he  improved  and  made  much  use  of  in  later  years. 


UNTO  CHILDREN'S  CHILDREN       25 

He  had  some  aptitude  for  music  as  well  as  mathematics, 
and  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  birds,  plants,  and  nature 
generally.  Though  not  tall  in  figure  he  was  strong  and  active, 
and  with  a  bright  smile  and  pleasant  manner  was  decidedly 
prepossessing. 

At  least  so  thought  his  mother,  when  occasional  holidays 
brought  him  home.  And  from  the  course  of  events  it  would 
appear  that  she  was  not  alone  in  this  opinion.  "  Home  " 
was  no  longer  the  cottage  near  the  Chapel  to  which  Mary 
Shepherd  had  come  as  bride.  Prospered  in  business,  John 
Taylor  had  built  a  plain  but  substantial  stone  house  at  the 
corner  of  Pitt  and  York  Streets.  The  situation  was  good 
and  the  property  large  enough  for  the  erection  of  work-shops 
and  other  premises.  Thither  the  family  had  moved  some 
years  previously,  and  a  brighter  spot  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  find  when  all  the  young  folk  gathered  home. 

Though  the  Manse  near  by  need  not  have  feared  com- 
parison. This  was  another  roomy,  pleasant  home,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Pitt  Street,  occupied  about  this  time  by  a 
family  with  the  same  number  of  girls  and  boys.  Naturally 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  intercourse  between  the  households. 
The  eldest  daughter  of  the  Manse  had  a  voice  so  sweet  that 
John  Taylor  called  her  "  the  nightingale."  The  minister 
himself  and  Mrs.  Hudson  were  among  the  reed-maker's 
warmest  friends,  and  many  were  the  Sunday  evenings  when 
they  walked  home  together  from  Chapel  and  joined  forces 
at  the  corner  house  for  an  informal  service  of  song. 

It  was  in  1824  that  the  minister's  family  was  transferred 
to  the  Barnsley  Circuit.  To  the  parents  it  must  have  seemed 
like  coming  home,  for  their  native  place,  the  Httle  town  of 
Holmfirth,  lay  only  a  few  miles  westward  on  the  edge  of 
the  great  grouse  moors.  There  both  Benjamin  Hudson 
and  his  wife  had  been  born  and  bred,  and  from  that  York- 
shire valley,  running  back  into  the  Peak  country  and  many 
a  mile  of  mountain,  dale  and  moor,  had  come  the  artistic 
temperament  and  courageous  spirit  of  their  children, 
enriched  by  a  heritage  of  godliness. 

Mr.  Hudson,  though  not  a  gifted  speaker,  was  a  faithful 
and  devoted  minister  of  the  Gospel.     He  was  an  artist. 


26  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

with  a  decided  talent  for  portrait-painting,  inherited  by 
three  at  least  of  his  children.  But  his  most  prominent 
characteristic,  and  one  that  gave  him  difficulty  at  times, 
was  an  irrepressible  fund  of  humour.  Happily  this  also 
was  passed  on  in  measure  to  his  descendants.  Reproved 
in  the  Methodist  "  Conference  "  on  one  occasion  for  not 
sufficiently  restraining  this  tendency,  he  apologised  in  a 
reply  so  witty  that  the  whole  assembly  was  overcome  with 
laughter.  But  in  Barnsley  he  was  on  his  native  heath. 
Yorkshire  folk  could  appreciate  his  dry,  droll  speeches  and 
pointed  exhortations.  There  and  in  many  other  places  he 
exercised  a  helpful  ministry,  and  was  valued  not  for  his 
own  sake  merely,  but  also  on  account  of  his  family. 

As  for  Mrs.  Hudson,  one  look  at  her  face  was  enough  to 
inspire  confidence  and  esteem.  The  accompanying  portrait 
painted  by  her  daughter  Hannah  gives  some  idea  of  what 
she  was  in  later  years,  though  it  reveals  but  little  of  the 
strength  and  sweetness  of  spirit  that  made  the  minister's 
wife  a  blessing  to  many.  Three  boys  and  four  girls  com- 
pleted the  family,  Amelia  the  eldest  being  only  fifteen  when 
they  first  came  to  Barnsley. 

Young  as  she  was,  however,  this  daughter  was  a  comfort 
to  her  parents  in  no  ordinary  degree.  In  addition  to  careful 
home-training,  she  had  had  the  benefit  of  several  years  in 
the  Friends'  School  at  Darlington.  Sincerity,  thoroughness, 
and  love  of  industry  had  become  as  natural  to  her  as  the 
thoughtfulness  for  others  that  made  her  everywhere  beloved  ; 
and  all  she  was  and  did  told  of  a  heart  wholly  given  to  the 
Lord. 

Had  it  been  financially  possible  Amelia  would  have 
continued  her  studies  at  Darlington.  But  younger  sisters 
needed  education,  and  with  cheerful  courage  she  took  it 
for  granted  that  she  must  make  way  for  them  and  obtain 
remunerative  employment.  It  was  the  only  way  to  lighten 
home-burdens.  And  if  her  parents  never  knew  how  much 
she  felt  the  sacrifice,  Amelia  on  her  part  could  little  realise 
the  mingled  feelings  of  regret  and  thankfulness  with  which 
they  saw  her  set  to  work  before  she  was  sixteen  to  earn  her 
living.     The  right  thing  is  not  always  the  easiest ;   but  God 


5     ~ 


<!        S 


>     -5 


UNTO  CHILDREN'S  CHILDREN  27 

has  His  schools  for  training,  and  a  life  left  in  His  hands  will 
never  fail  of  its  highest  development  here  and  hereafter. 

So  Amelia  went  to  Castle  Donnington  as  governess  to 
three  little  children  in  the  family  of  a  gentleman-farmer. 
Her  pupils  were  devoted  to  her  and  her  surroundings  con- 
genial. But  though  happy  in  her  work  and  gifted  for  it,  she 
could  not  but  long  at  times  for  home,  and  the  holidays  that 
enabled  her  to  visit  Barnsley  seemed  few  and  far  between. 

Thus  it  was  that  although  a  special  favourite  with  John 
Taylor  and  his  family  she  was  rarely  able  to  join  the  Sunday 
evening  gatherings  at  the  corner  house.  Like  James  in  his 
apprenticeship,  she  was  early  feeling  the  discipline  of  life. 
Perhaps  this  very  fact  helped  to  draw  them  together.  He 
was  her  senior  by  about  a  year,  and  prepared  through  what 
he  had  seen  of  the  world  to  appreciate  her  brave,  beautiful 
character.  For  as  was  purposed  by  the  Heart  that  planned, 
those  welcome  holidays  sometimes  brought  the  young 
governess  to  the  Manse  just  when  James  Taylor  was  also 
able  to  visit  Barnsley.  Short  indeed  would  seem  the  ten 
miles'  walk  when  he  was  homeward  bound.  And  more 
than  usual  eagerness  winged  his  feet  when  he  came  to  know 
for  himself  the  sweet  singer  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  much. 
To  his  delight  he  found  Amelia  to  be  lovely  in  disposition 
as  well  as  in  appearance,  and  that  she  thought  and  felt  as 
he  did  about  the  deeper  things  of  life. 

The  result  was  inevitable.  A  warm  affection  sprang  up 
between  these  two,  so  suited  to  each  other,  and  before  the 
minister  left  Barnsley,  an  engagement  had  been  hallowed 
by  the  love  and  prayers  of  both  families  that  from  that  day 
united  the  names — Hudson  Taylor. 


CHAPTER  III 

SET   APART   UNTO   THE   LORD 
1824-1832 

It  was  long,  however,  ere  the  young  people  were  to  see  much 
of  one  another,  James  had  his  way  to  make  in  the  calling 
he  had  chosen,  and  Amelia's  holidays  came  no  oftener  than 
before,  though  more  eagerly  desired.  But  at  sixteen  and 
seventeen  a  long  engagement  is  inevitable,  and  brings  with 
it  so  much  of  hope  and  happiness  that  it  is  comparatively 
easy  to  bear. 

When  the  young  apprentice  returned  to  Rotherham,  it 
was  with  stronger  incentives  than  ever  to  do  well.  There 
was  new  zest  in  business  and  study,  and  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  so  filled  his  heart  that  it  could  not  but  overflow  to 
others.  His  employer  perceiving  his  reliability,  decided  to 
put  him  in  charge  of  a  branch-establishment  in  the  neighbour- 
ing town  of  Conisborough.  Here  James  Taylor  found,  as 
others  before  him,  that  "  prayer  and  pains  with  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  will  do  anything."  The  business  prospered, 
and  better  still  he  prospered  in  it,  according  to  the  suggestive 
promise  of  the  first  Psalm. ^ 

With  comparatively  little  leisure  in  the  years  that  followed 
he  had  a  growing  love  for  study,  especially  of  a  kind  that 
would  throw  light  upon  the  word  of  God.  The  Bible  was 
his  chief  delight,  and  he  longed  to  share  the  wealth  he  found 
in  it  with  others.  At  no  great  distance  from  Conisborough 
were  many  neglected  villages  to  which  he  made  his  way 
Sunday  by  Sunday,   telhng  in  out-of-the-way  places  the 

1  In  whatsoever  he  doeth,  he  shall  prosper  (Psalm  i.  3,  R.V.  margin). 

28 


SET  APART  UNTO  THE  LORD       29 

wonderful  love  of  God.  He  could  not  but  speak,  for  his 
own  heart  was  brimming  over,  and  not  a  few  among  his 
hearers  were  awakened  and  blessed.  Seeing  which,  the 
authorities  of  the  Church  to  which  he  belonged  recognised 
that  the  lad  was  called  to  this  much-needed  ministry,  and 
at  nineteen  years  of  age  his  name  was  added  to  the  list  of 
Barnsley  local  preachers,  of  whom  his  grandfather  had  been 
the  first. 

Meanwhile  his  fiancee  was  still  at  Castle  Donnington 
gaining  health  and  experience  for  days  to  come.  Constant 
reading  kept  her  mind  bright,  and  regular  correspondence 
cultivated  a  habit  of  rapid,  easy  writing,  of  more  value  than 
she  could  suppose  at  the  time.  Her  letters  were  full  of 
interest  and  did  much  to  encourage  the  one  who  received 
them  as  he  took  up  on  his  own  account  the  responsibilities 
of  Hfe. 

His  apprenticeship  over  James  Taylor  had  returned  to 
Barnsley,  and  with  money  advanced  by  his  father  rented  one 
of  the  best  shops  in  town.  It  was  a  step  of  faith,  for  21 
Cheapside  was  a  serious  undertaking  for  so  young  a  man. 
But  the  premises  were  in  a  good  situation,  right  on  the  busy 
Market  Place,  and  large  enough  to  afford  a  permanent  home. 
One  of  his  sisters  took  charge  as  housekeeper  for  the  time, 
leaving  him  free  to  devote  his  energies  to  business  six  days 
a  week  and  to  his  preaching  appointments  on  Sunday.  At 
least  as  much  work  and  prayer  were  given  to  the  shop  as 
to  his  sermons,  with  the  result  that  he  succeeded  in  both 
and  became  known  as  a  reliable  man  of  affairs  as  well  as 
a  helpful,  popular  preacher  throughout  the  Circuit.  At 
length  after  years  of  uphill  work  the  way  seemed  clear  before 
him.  He  was  able  to  repay  his  father's  loan,  and  with  a 
home  and  suihcient  income  of  his  own,  felt  he  might  claim 
his  bride. 

It  was  in  the  quaint  old  town  of  Barton-on-Humber  that 
the  Hudsons  were  living  when  the  long  engagement  drew 
to  a  close.  Seven  years'  friendship  had  done  much  to 
develop  the  boy  and  girl  into  earnest  manhood  and  woman- 
hood and  to  prepare  them  for  the  union  to  which  they  now 
looked  forward.     James  had  learned  to  pray  his  way  through 


30  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

difficulties  and  was  full  of  confidence  in  God,  and  Amelia 
at  twenty-three  more  than  fufilled  the  promise  of  her  girl- 
hood. Her  father,  whose  ministry  had  taken  him  to  Chester- 
field and  elsewhere  since  Barnsley  days,  was  still  in  the  North 
country,  in  charge  of  the  Barton  Circuit,  and  had  it  all  been 
planned  on  purpose,  nothing  could  have  been  more  delightful 
under  the  circumstances  than  the  Manse  and  its  surroundings. 
No  little  comfort  this,  amid  the  varying  fortunes  of  an 
itinerant  preacher's  life. 

For  a  something  indescribable  of  old-world  loveliness  per- 
vaded the  little  town,  seen  at  its  best  no  doubt  through 
lovers'  eyes  that  sweet  spring-tide  in  183 1.  From  the 
famous  Ferry  of  the  Doomsday  Book  to  the  fine  old  churches 
on  the  Green,  dating  back  to  Norman  and  even  Saxon  times, 
the  cosy,  straggling  place  breathed  an  air  of  comfort  and 
repose.  About  it  lay  an  undulating  country  noted  for  its 
corn,  malt,  bricks  and  tiles.  The  spacious  Market  Place  and 
numerous  windmills  bore  witness  to  a  measure  of  commercial 
activity  ;  but  the  quaint,  irregular  streets  and  picturesque 
houses,  half  hidden  among  trees  and  flowering  creepers, 
were  more  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  a  bygone  time. 

In  the  very  heart  of  the  town,  the  preacher's  house  near 
the  Chapel  seemed  specially  a  bower  of  greenery  and  bloom. 
"  Maltby  Cottage,  Maltby  Lane,"  was  an  address  with 
which  James  Taylor  was  familiar,  but  even  he  can  hardly 
have  anticipated  the  charm  of  that  sheltered  home.  Within 
the  high,  old-fashioned  wall  lay  a  spacious  garden  with 
its  lawn  and  flowers,  its  fruit-trees  all  in  blossom,  and  a 
green  field  beyond,  where  quiet  cattle  fed.  Looking  out 
upon  this  pleasant  scene  stood  the  square,  red-brick  house 
covered  with  creepers,  whose  wide  windows  welcomed  the 
sunshine  and  almost  made  the  lower  rooms  seem  part  of 
the  out-of-doors.  A  sweeter  spot  could  hardly  be  imagined 
for  a  homelike,  happy  wedding,  nor  a  more  charming  bride 
than  the  minister's  daughter  whom  James  Taylor  had  loved 
so  long. 

Here  then  they  were  married  on  April  5,  1831,  in  the 
beautiful  church  of  St.  Mary's  just  beyond  the  trees. 

Busy   and   happy   were   the   days   that   followed  when 


Photograplts  by 


F.  Howard  Taylor. 


1.    THE    PARISH    CHURCH    OF    ST.    MARY,    BARTON-ON-H UMBER,    IX    WHICH 
MR.    AND    MRS.    JAMES    TAYLOR    WERE    MARRIED. 

2.    THE    HOME    OF    THE    BRIDE,    "  MALTBY    COTTAGE,    MALTBY    LANE." 

To  face  page  30. 


SET  APART  UNTO  THE  LORD       31 

Amelia  found  herself  again  in  Barnsley.  The  John  Taylors 
were  still  living  in  the  house  on  Pitt  Street,  and  both  there 
and  in  the  Chapel  the  welcome  she  received  was  warm  and 
true.  And  the  more  she  became  known  among  her  husband's 
friends  the  more  she  was  beloved  for  the  sweet  spirit  that 
seemed  to  have  no  thought  or  consciousness  of  self.  In- 
telligent and  attractive  as  she  was,  there  was  no  desire  to 
shine  or  make  an  impression  on  others.  Her  voice  alone 
would  have  brought  her  notice,  but  there  was  a  shrinking 
from  display  of  this  or  any  other  gift.  Yet  she  enjoyed 
society,  loved  to  see  others  admired,  and  was  so  good  a 
listener  that  men  and  women  alike  found  her  companionship 
delightful. 

But  it  was  the  chemist's  home  on  the  Market  Place  that 
really  saw  her  shine.  There  the  qualities  that  made  her  an 
ideal  wife  could  not  be  hidden,  and  James  Taylor  must  often 
have  realised  at  his  own  fireside  the  truth  of  that  word  : 
"  Whoso  findeth  a  wife  findeth  a  good  thing,  and  obtaineth 
favour  of  the  Lord." 

In  all  his  work  and  interests  she  bore  a  cheerful  part, 
while  caring  for  domestic  matters  with  a  thoroughness  and 
perfection  of  detail  that  characterised  all  she  did.  His 
"  Class  "  of  forty  or  fifty  lads  felt  the  influence  of  her 
sympathy  and  prayers  only  less  than  the  girls  who  became 
her  special  care,  and  one  of  the  joys  of  their  early  married 
life  was  an  old-time  revival  in  the  Chapel  that  resulted  in 
the  conversion  of  many  of  these  young  people.^ 

In  his  preaching  engagements  throughout  the  Circuit 
she  also  proved  an  unexpected  help.  Preparing  his  sermons 
was  no  longer  the  solitary  task  it  had  been.  Together  they 
prayed  and  studied,  and  when  James  Taylor's  heart  was  full 
and  his  pen  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  thoughts  he  longed 
to  utter,  his  wife  would  take  rapid  notes  and  write  out  for 

'  The  revival  commenced  in  Westgate  Chapel,  as  it  was  then  called, 
with  the  Watch  Night  Service  on  December  31,  1832,  and  one  of  the  lads 
converted  in  James  Taylor's  class  was  his  cousin  John  Bashforth,  whose 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  James  and  Betty  Taylor,  brought  up  in  the  little 
cottage  on  Old  Mill  Lane.  The  Bashforths  became  one  of  the  leading 
families  in  Barnsley.  Young  John  Bashforth  from  this  time  onward  Uved 
a  consistent  Christian  life,  and  was  for  many  years  Superintendent  of  the 
Sunday  School. 


32  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

him  many  a  sermon  delivered  as  he  paced  the  httle  room 
behind  the  shop.  He  was  a  gifted  speaker,  and  gave  much 
care  to  the  preparation  of  his  discourses/  In  this  work 
Ameha's  pen  proved  invaluable  through  many  a  long  year, 
and  the  joy  of  seeing  souls  brought  into  blessing  through 
his  ministry  more  than  repaid  the  sacrifice  of  time  and 
strength. 

And  then  the  young  wife  had  the  happiness  of  finding 
her  expectations  more  than  reahsed  in  the  character  her 
husband  sustained  as  a  business  man.  He  was  an  excellent 
chemist  and  highly  respected  for  his  influence  in  the  town. 
So  scrupulous  was  he  in  financial  matters  that  he  made  it  a 
rule  to  pay  every  debt  the  very  day  it  fell  due. 

"  If  I  let  it  stand  over  a  week,"  he  would  say,  "  I  defraud 
my  creditor  of  interest,  if  only  a  fractional  sum." 

In  deahng  with  his  customers  he  was  upright  to  a  farthing 
or  a  grain,  and  full  of  genuine  sympathy.  He  never  sued 
for  a  bill,  and  did  not  think  it  desirable  for  Christians  even 
to  press  for  the  payment  of  an  account.  On  the  contrary, 
he  frequently  returned  in  whole  or  part  sums  that  his 
customers  could  ill  afford  to  spare.  More  than  one  neighbour 
barely  able  to  settle  an  account  was  cheered  by  his  generosity. 

"  It's  all  right,  John,"  he  would  exclaim.  "  We'll  send 
that  bill  up  to  heaven  and  settle  it  there." 

Genial  and  kindly  to  all  he  was  specially  so  to  the  poor 
and  to  strangers  in  sickness  or  trouble.  A  foreigner  or 
traveller  far  from  home  could  always  find  a  friend  in  the 
busy  chemist. 

"  Come  again,  come  again,"  he  would  say  if  he  thought 
they  needed  help.  "  Bring  the  bottle  back  when  the 
medicine  is  done  and  I  will  gladly  fill  it." 

Yet  he  was  a  keen  man  of  affairs  and  made  his  business 
successful.  This  was  partly  on  account  of  skill  in  the 
management  of  money-matters,  and  partly  through  careful 

1  "  Possessing  good  natural  abilities,  which  he  carefully  improved  by 
study,  James  Taylor  was  a  most  able  and  effective  preacher.  His  manner 
was  at  once  pleasant  and  dignified.  His  sermons  bore  evidence  of  much 
thought  and  study,  and  as  literary  compositions  were  considerably  above 
the  average  of  lay  discourses  "  (from  the  Obituary  Notice  in  T/ie  Barns/ey 
Chronicle) . 


SET  APART  UNTO  THE  LORD  33 

attention  to  detail.  His  fellow-townsmen  recognising  his 
financial  ability  appointed  him  Manager  of  their  "  Building 
Society,"  an  office  he  continued  to  fill  for  two-and- twenty 
years.  That  he  did  not  regard  lightly  the  duties  of  such  a 
position  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  he  worked  out 
lists  of  interest  at  various  rates  to  four  or  five  places  of 
decimals,  and  compiled  tables  of  logarithms  to  assist  his 
calculations.  Public  funds  were  to  him  a  sacred  trust, 
demanding  the  greatest  care  and  fidehty  in  their  administra- 
tion.^ 

But  it  was  to  God  above  all  James  Taylor  sought  to  be 
faithful,  and  he  was  possessed  by  a  profound  conviction  of 
His  infinite  faithfulness.  He  took  the  Bible  very  simply, 
believing  it  was  of  all  books  the  most  practical  if  put  to  the 
test  of  experience.  In  this  too  he  met  with  fullest  sympathy 
from  the  young  wife  who  was  herself  so  loyal  to  the  Lord. 

On  a  day  they  could  never  forget,  in  their  first  winter 
together,  he  sought  her  Bible  in  hand  to  talk  over  a  passage 
that  had  impressed  him.  It  was  part  of  the  thirteenth 
chapter    of   Exodus,    with     the    corresponding    verses    in 

Numbers  : 

"  Sanctify  unto  me  all  the  firstborn  ..." 
"  All  the  firstborn  are  mine  ..." 
"  Mine  shall  they  be  .  .  ." 
"  Set  apart  unto  the  Lord." 

Long  and  earnest  was  the  talk  that  followed  in  view  of 
the  happiness  to  which  they  were  looking  forward.     Their 

1  "  He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  for  many  years  Acting  Manager 
of  the  Barnsley  Permanent  Building  Society.  .  .  .  After  his  retirement 
from  business,  about  1864  or  1865,  he  was  able  to  devote  a  considerable 
amount  of  time  to  the  work  of  the  Society,  which  had  by  this  time  attained 
important  dimensions,  and  all  its  members  will  agree  that  from  first  to  last 
he  had  its  interests  thoroughly  at  heart.  ...  On  the  eve  of  his  leaving 
Barnsley  he  was  presented  by  the  directors,  officers,  and  members  of  the 
Society  with  a  solid  silver  tea-service  and  an  illuminated  address  '  as  a 
mark  of  their  esteem  for  his  personal  character,  and  in  recognition  of  his 
faithful  services  as  Manager  of  the  Society  from  1853  to  1875.' 

"  During  the  long  period  of  his  residence  in  Barnsley,  Mr.  Taylor  enjoyed 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  sections  of  his  fellow- townsmen,  and  of  him 
it  could  with  truth  be  said  as  his  active,  well-knit  figure  was  seen  passing 
along  our  streets  : 

'  An  honest  man,  close-button'd  to  the  chin, 
Broadcloth  without,  and  a  warm  heart  within.'  "     Ibid. 

D 


34  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

hearts  held  back  nothing  from  the  Lord.  With  them  it 
was  not  a  question  of  how  httle  could  be  given,  but  how 
much.  Did  the  Lord  claim  the  best  gift  of  His  own  giving  ? 
Their  child  was  more  their  own  for  being  His.  To  such 
parents  what  could  be  more  welcome  than  the  invitation, 
nay  command,  to  set  apart  their  dearest  thus  to  Him  ? 
And  how  precious  the  Divine  assurance,  "  It  is  Mine,"  not 
for  time  only  but  for  eternity. 

Together  they  knelt  in  the  silence  to  fulfil  as  literally  as 
possible  an  obligation  they  could  not  relegate  to  Hebrew 
parents  of  old.  It  was  no  ceremony  to  be  gone  through 
merely  but  a  definite  transaction,  the  handing  over  of  their 
best  to  God,  recalling  which  the  mother  wrote  long  after  : 

"  This  act  of  consecration  they  solemnly  performed  upon  their  knees, 
asking  for  the  rich  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  that  their  firstborn 
might  be  "  set  apart  "  indeed  from  that  hour. 

And  just  as  definitely  the  Lord  responded,  giving  them 
faith  to  realise  that  He  had  accepted  the  gift ;  that  hence- 
forth the  life  so  dear  to  them  was  their  own  no  longer,  but 
must  be  held  at  the  disposal  of  a  higher  claim,  a  deeper  love 
than  theirs. 

Thus  spring-time  came  again  touching  with  tender 
loveliness  those  Yorkshire  hills  and  valleys,  and  on  May 
21,  1832,  this  child  of  many  prayers  was  born,  and  named 
after  both  parents,  James  Hudson  Taylor. 


CHAPTER    IV 

NURTURE   AND   ADMONITION 
1832-1839.     Aet.  1-7. 

He  was  a  sensitive,  thoughtful  Httle  fellow  from  the  first, 
though  bright  and  winsome  as  any  heart  could  wish.  It 
almost  seemed  as  though  he  brought  more  love  than  usual 
into  the  world,  with  his  great  capacity  for  loving  and  the 
frailty  of  health  that  drew  forth  all  the  tenderness  of  those 
about  him.  For  he  was  delicate,  unusually  so,  as  his  parents 
soon  discovered.  This  was  no  little  sorrow,  and  added 
difficulty  to  the  task  of  bringing  him  up  to  be  a  brave  and 
faithful  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  time  went  on 
he  was  often  so  far  from  well  that  it  seemed  almost  impossible 
to  insist  upon  obedience  and  self-control.  Yet  the  very 
difficulty  only  made  it  the  more  necessary.  For  nothing  in 
after-life,  his  parents  realised,  could  ever  compensate  for 
the  injury  of  an  undisciplined  childhood.  But  they  knew 
where  to  turn  for  strength  and  grace.  Were  they  not 
workers  together  with  God  in  moulding  this  httle  life  for 
His  holy  service  ?  If  they  lacked  wisdom  for  so  high  a 
task,  as  indeed  they  did,  would  He  not  give  it  liberally 
according  to  His  promise  ? 

So  the  child  grew  under  a  watchful  care  that  could  not 
in  present  happiness  forget  its  responsibility  to  coming  years. 
And  his  parents  grew  with  him.  The  young  mother,  lovely 
as  she  had  always  been,  developed  new  depth  of  character 
in  dealing  with  this  son,  and  into  the  father's  life  came 
added  sympathy  and  strength. 

It  was  around  his  grandfather's  figure,  strange  to  say, 

35 


36  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  the  Chapel  on  Pinfold  Hill  that  his  earliest  recollections 
centred.  Taken  almost  from  infancy  to  the  House  of  God, 
he  retained  a  distinct  remembrance  of  the  old-fashioned 
gallery  as  it  then  was,  and  his  father's  pew  right  opposite 
the  pulpit.  Immediately  behind  was  the  seat  occupied  by 
John  and  Mary  Taylor,  whose  presence  usually  inspired  a 
wholesome  sense  of  awe.  But  Hudson  only  remembered 
the  smile  that  lighted  his  grandfather's  face.  For  when  he 
had  been  specially  good  he  was  sure  to  be  handed  over  the 
back  of  the  pew,  at  the  close  of  the  long  proceedings,  to 
receive  his  grandfather's  commendations  and  be  carried 
home  to  sit  on  his  knee  by  the  fireside  and  at  the  well-filled 
table.  This  was  a  regular  custom  as  long  as  the  reed-maker 
lived  and  kept  open  house  on  Pitt  Street.  That  dizzy 
transit  from  pew  to  pew  and  the  clasp  of  his  grandfather's 
arms  bringing  a  consciousness  of  duty  well  done  were  the 
first  memories  of  his  childhood. 

And  with  them  came  another,  of  the  last  time  he  saw 
that  dear,  familiar  face.  His  grandfather  was  lying  very 
quiet  then,  and  the  wondering  child  was  told  that  he  had 
gone  to  be  with  Jesus.  There  was  no  fear  in  the  impression, 
only  surprise  that  he  should  be  so  cold  and  still.  It  was 
his  first  sight  of  death,  and  never  to  be  forgotten,  although 
at  the  time  he  was  only  two  and  a  half  years  old. 

There  were  other  childish  memories  also  of  an  unusual 
kind.  One  was  of  learning  the  Hebrew  alphabet  as  he  sat 
on  his  father's  knee,  and  another  his  first  attempt  at  author- 
ship a  little  later.  By  this  time  he  was  four,  and  could  read 
and  write  a  little,  for  he  embarked  courageously  on  this 
Uterary  effort. 

"  Was  it  a  fairy-tale  or  story  of  adventure  ?  "  we  inquired 
when  he  spoke  of  this  recollection. 

"  No,  it  was  a  serious  recital  of  a  matter  that  was  burden- 
ing my  mind.  It  was  about  an  old  man  of  eighty,  who  had 
led  a  very  improper  life  and  had  not  truly  repented.  His 
chances  were  growing  small.  I  only  finished  one  chapter, 
laboriously  inscribed  in  large  print.     It  was  not  very  long." 

From  which  it  will  be  seen  that  this  child  of  quick  sus- 
ceptibilities entered  more  perhaps  than  was  good  for  him 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  37 

into  the  life  of  older  people,  until  little  playfellows  grew  up 
to  claim  their  share  of  attention.  This  happily  was  the 
case  before  long,  and  by  the  time  he  was  five  years  old  a 
younger  brother  and  sister  were  quite  companionable. 
They  were  a  merry  trio,  and  kept  each  other  busy  all  day 
long.  Teaching  Ameha  ^  to  walk  became  a  great  interest 
to  the  boys,  as  Hudson  recalled  long  after,  when  writing 
from  China  for  her  nineteenth  birthday.  Another  perform- 
ance into  which  they  put  their  whole  hearts  was  the  Sunday 
evening  "  meeting "  in  which  one  of  the  brothers  was 
audience  and  the  other  speaker.  The  father's  chair  was 
pulpit  in  the  little  sitting-room  behind  the  shop,  and  it  was 
doubtless  his  example  and  the  stories  told  them  of  James 
Taylor  and  the  days  of  Wesley  that  fired  their  imagination 
and  made  them  want  to  be  "  brave  preachers  "  too. 

For  at  no  time  is  there  greater  capacity  for  devotion  or 
more  pure,  uncalculating  ambition  in  the  service  of  God 
than  in  early  childhood,  when  the  heart  is  full  of  love  to 
Christ.  Little  Hudson,  for  example,  was  deeply  impressed 
at  four  or  five  years  of  age  by  what  he  heard  about  the 
darkness  of  heathen  lands. 

"  When  I  am  a  man,"  he  would  often  say,  "  I  mean  to  be 
a  missionary  and  go  to  China." 

It  was  only  a  childish  impulse  ?  Yes,  but  he  meant  it 
with  all  his  heart,  and  meant  it  because  he  loved  the  Lord 
and  wanted  to  please  and  follow  Him.  In  the  same  spirit 
was  the  prayer  of  another  little  one  of  five  years  old  : 

"  Lord  Jesus,  help  us  to  be  good  brothers  to  You,  and  to 
do  some  of  Your  hard  work  in  Africa  and  in  China."  ^ 

The  first  sorrow  that  overshadowed  Hudson's  life  was 
the  death  of  his  brother,  called  after  their  great-grandfather, 
William  Shepherd.  This  was  a  loss  indeed,  for  they  had 
been  inseparable  companions,  and  there  was  no  one  to  fill 
the  empty  place.  Theodore  was  still  a  baby,  and  he  too  was 
taken  before  long  to  be  with  Jesus.  Hudson  from  this  time 
onward  was  an  only  son  ;   but  two  little  sisters  were  spared 

1  Afterwards  Mrs.  Benjamin  Broomhall. 

2  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and  mother"  (St.  Mark  iii.  35). 


38  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

to  grow  up,  the  elder  of  whom  was  near  enough  in  age 
to  become  his  special  friend.  These  early  bereavements, 
following  the  loss  of  their  grandfather,  would  not  but  make 
him  feel  the  reality  of  unseen  things  and  develop  his  thought- 
ful tendencies. 

But  though  he  took  life  seriously  from  the  first,  he  was 
sunny  and  bright  by  nature  and  dearly  loved  boyish  fun. 
He  had  eyes  and  a  heart  for  everything,  and  retained  to 
the  end  a  capacity  for  enjoyment  that  was  remarkable. 
Nature  was  his  great  delight,  and  he  had  the  patience, 
S3mipathy,  and  power  of  observation  needed  for  entering 
into  her  secrets.  He  would  take  any  amount  of  trouble  to 
cultivate  a  little  fern  or  flower  brought  home  from  the  woods, 
or  to  learn  about  the  ways  of  birds,  animals  and  insects. 
All  living  growing  things  seemed  to  possess  a  charm  for 
him  that  years  only  increased. 

On  one  occasion  in  his  early  childhood  a  fair  of  unusual 
interest  was  held  in  the  town.  The  open  space  behind  St. 
Mary's  Church  was  covered  with  stalls  and  shows  of  every 
kind,  and  the  usual  attractions  of  circus,  music,  and  merry- 
go-round  were  not  lacking.  But  this  fair  was  specially 
fascinating  to  Hudson  on  account  of  an  exhibition  of  stuffed 
birds  and  animals,  in  which  their  natural  habitats  were 
reproduced  as  far  as  possible.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
expectation  with  which  he  set  out  for  the  Green,  the  proud 
possessor  of  a  penny,  that  open-sesame  of  all  delights. 

Now  it  was  a  rule  of  the  family  that  pennies  could  be  had 
if  they  were  earned,  but  not  otherwise.  The  parents 
recognised  the  importance  of  teaching  their  children  the 
value  of  money,  and  that  honest  work  is  necessary  if  it  is 
to  be  obtained.  Simple  tasks  suited  to  their  capacity  were 
devised,  such  as  hemming  dusters,  cleaning  windows,  or 
helping  in  the  shop.  When  they  were  too  young  to  do 
anything  but  play,  small  coins  might  be  earned  by  what 
was  called  "  a  game  of  still,"  which  meant  just  sitting 
perfectly  quiet  for  a  measured  time  by  the  clock,  five  or  ten 
minutes  or  longer  as  the  mother  might  decide.  And  Mother 
had  more  in  view  than  the  children  thought,  having  dis- 
covered how  much  good  was  accomplished  by  these  resting- 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  39 

times  for  mind  and  body.  Of  course  all  this  was  much 
more  troublesome  than  the  ordinary  methods  of  obtaining 
pocket-money,  but  it  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  pleasure 
of  giving  and  receiving  pennies  genuinely  earned  was 
sufficient  reward  for  parents  and  children  alike.  Thus  the 
unfortunate  habit  of  teasing  for  money  was  entirely  obviated. 
"  Work  for  it  and  you  shall  have  it  "  proved  a  much  more 
satisfactory  basis. 

Well,  this  particular  fair  came  just  when  Hudson  was 
rejoicing  in  the  possession  of  his  first  whole  penny,  obtained 
at  what  had  been  to  him  no  Httle  cost.  Of  course,  it  seemed 
a  fortune.  The  largest,  most  precious  coin  he  had  ever 
possessed,  what  would  it  not  purchase  of  delight  ? 

Joyfully  he  climbed  the  hill  to  St.  Mary's,  ran  along  the 
lane  to  Church  Fields,  and  sought  among  the  bewildering 
variety  of  attractions  for  the  birds  and  animals  of  his  dreams. 
It  was  disconcerting  to  find  a  fence  around  the  enclosure, 
and  at  the  gate  an  imposing  personage  of  doubtful  disposi- 
tion toward  Httle  boys.  But  producing  his  penny  he 
summoned  up  courage  to  ask  admission.  To  his  surprise 
this  was  denied,  the  man  gruffly  intimating  that  the  entrance 
fee  was  "  tuppence." 

In  a  moment  the  child's  mind  grasped  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  the  situation.  No  doubt  the  man  would  like  to  have 
two  pennies.  So  would  he  himself.  But  that  was  out  of 
the  question.     There  was  only  one. 

"  I  haven't  got  another  penny,"  he  explained  timidly. 
"  But  I  will  give  you  this  one,  if  you  will  let  me  in  ;  and 
wouldn't  it  be  better  for  you  to  have  one  penny  than  none 
at  all  ?  " 

But  the  man  in  uniform  was  not  able  to  see  the  point. 

Nothing  daunted,  the  curly-headed  little  fellow  continued 
his  attempt.  Reasonableness  and  perseverance  were  among 
the  strongest  traits  in  his  character,  and  surely  even  a 
grown-up  person  would  see,  in  time,  what  a  mistake  it  was  to 
refuse  one  penny  just  because  you  could  not  have  two  at 
once.     But  alas,  the  gate-keeper  was  obdurate. 

At  length  the  failure  of  his  arguments  and  the  inaccessi- 
bility of  the  treasures  beyond  that  closed  door  were  too 


40  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

much  for  the  sensitive  child.  Turning  away  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  he  ran  home  sobbing  as  if  his  heart  would  break. 

Happily  his  mother  found  him  and  was  able  to  under- 
stand.    Taking  him  in  her  arms  she  said  quietly  : 

"  But  the  man  was  doing  his  duty,  my  son.  He  didn't 
mean  to  be  unkind.  Every  one  has  to  pay  two  pennies  to 
see  those  lovely  birds  and  animals.  You  have  been  so  good 
and  industrious  lately  that  Mother  will  give  you  another 
penny  as  a  reward.  Run  off  again,  now,  and  the  man  will 
be  glad  to  let  you  in." 

This  unexpected  turn  of  events  put  everything  right, 
and  sent  such  gladness  thrilling  through  the  httle  heart  that 
seventy  long  years  after  it  had  not  died  away. 

The  mother's  gentle  discipline  had  much  to  do  with  the 
happiness  of  his  childhood,  and  gave  rise  to  more  than  one 
situation  that  was  long  remembered.  Such,  for  instance, 
was  the  company  dinner  when  in  attending  to  her  guests 
she  overlooked  the  needs  of  her  little  son.  The  meal  went 
on  and  still  the  child  said  nothing,  knowing  he  must  not 
ask  for  things  at  table.  At  length,  however,  an  expedient 
suggested  itself,  and  a  little  voice  was  heard  requesting  for 
salt.     That  at  any  rate  was  permissible. 

"  And  what  do  you  want  the  salt  for  ?  "  questioned  his 
neighbour,  seeing  the  empty  plate. 

"  Oh,"  he  replied,  "  I  want  to  be  ready.  Mamma  will 
give  me  something  to  eat  by-and-by." 

On  another  occasion  he  called  attention  to  his  needs  by 
inquiring  in  a  pause  in  the  conversation  : 

"  Mamma,  do  you  think  apple-pie  is  good  for  Httle  boys  ?  " 

It  was  not  often  he  attempted  to  evade  home-regulations, 
partly  no  doubt  because  he  knew  it  would  be  useless,  and 
partly  for  fear  of  giving  his  mother  pain.  In  all  her  dealings 
with  the  children  she  was  reasonable  and  consistent.  She 
made  few  rules,  and  avoided  unnecessary  commands.  But 
they  well  knew  that  what  she  said  she  meant,  for  she  never 
gave  instructions  she  was  not  prepared  to  see  carried  out. 
Sometimes  Hudson  was  tempted,  like  other  boys,  to  see  how 
far  he  could  go  in  taking  his  own  way  ;  but  one  distressing 
experience  taught  him  a  lesson  that  was  not  soon  forgotten. 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  41 

He  was  intensely  fond  of  reading,  and  was  absorbed  one 
winter  in  a  delightful  book.  He  was  all  eagerness  to  finish 
it,  but  daylight  hours  were  short  and  full  of  other  occupations, 
and  bed-time  could  not  be  postponed.  If  only  he  might 
read  at  night  !  But  Mother  always  came  to  tuck  him  up 
and  take  the  light  away.  The  story  grew  in  interest,  and 
at  length  a  plan  suggested  itself.  He  knew,  as  every  one 
did  in  that  orderly  household,  just  where  the  candle-ends 
were  kept  for  use  in  kitchen  or  cellar.  It  would  never  be 
noticed  if  he  took  a  few  of  these.  Then  he  could  light  them, 
one  by  one,  and  lying  cosily  in  bed  make  progress  with  his 
book.  At  first  the  thought  was  startling  and  not  to  be 
entertained  for  a  moment.  But  it  came  again  and  again, 
until  conscience  was  silenced  and  he  decided  to  carry  it  out. 

A  visitor  came  to  spend  the  evening  with  his  parents  just 
when  this  stage  was  reached,  and  perceiving  his  opportunity 
the  child  filled  his  largest  pocket  with  the  coveted  candle- 
ends  and  went  in  earlier  than  usual  to  say  good-night.  In 
the  drawing-room  the  older  people  were  gathered  round 
the  fire.  The  visitor  was  fond  of  children,  and  taking  the 
little  fellow  on  his  knee  asked  if  he  would  like  to  hear  a 
story.  Dearly  as  Hudson  loved  stories,  however,  especially 
at  bed-time,  the  warmth  of  the  fire  made  him  anxious  to 
escape.  He  was  painfully  conscious  that  the  pocket  full 
of  candle-ends  was  on  the  fire  side,  and  eagerly  explaining 
that  it  was  time  to  go  to  bed,  tried  to  slip  off  the  too-friendly 
knee. 

But  his  mother's  voice  detained  him.  It  was  early  yet, 
and  as  a  special  treat  he  might  stay  a  little  longer  to  hear 
the  story.  But  instead  of  being  delighted,  the  poor  child 
was  restless  and  miserable.  The  candles  must  be  melting. 
He  knew  they  were  !  What  if  Mother  should  smell  the 
tallow,  or  it  should  trickle  down  upon  the  carpet  ?  At  the 
first  pause  in  the  recital,  he  urged  again,  more  earnestly 
than  before,  that  it  really  was  bed-time  and  he  ought  not 
to  stay  up  any  longer.  The  gentleman  was  disappointed  and 
the  parents  greatly  puzzled.     But  still  the  story  went  on. 

Finally,  after  what  seemed  hours  of  suspense,  he  was 
released  and  hurried  away  to  his  room.     His  mother  quickly 


42  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

followed,  to  find  him  weeping  bitterly  over  a  pocketful  of 
melted  tallow  and  a  story  of  his  own  that  he  was  only  too 
glad  to  pour  forth  without  extenuation.  Needless  to  say 
her  sorrow  over  it  all  impressed  the  lesson  for  which  in  after- 
life he  could  not  be  too  thankful. 

One  chief  advantage  of  his  childhood  was  that  he  was  so 
continually  under  his  mother's  care.  This  in  itself  was 
sufficient  compensation  for  the  limited  means  that  made 
it  necessary.  The  father's  business  prospered  and  brought 
in  more  than  enough  for  present  needs.  But  with  the 
welfare  of  his  family  at  heart,  he  felt  it  desirable  to  lay  by 
for  the  future,  as  well  as  to  purchase  the  premises  in  which 
they  hved  and  other  properties.  This  necessitated  careful 
economy  in  everyday  matters.  Household  expenditure 
was  reduced  as  far  as  possible,  luxuries  were  unknown,  and 
active,  practical  habits  were  the  order  of  the  day.  The 
children  learned  to  be  independent  and  were  well  drilled  in 
thoughtfulness  for  others.  But  above  all  they  grew  up  in 
close  contact  with  their  parents,  as  children  never  can  in  a 
house  with  many  servants,  or  if  they  are  sent  to  school. 
The  mother  was  their  companion  from  morning  till  night. 
She  it  was  who  worked  with  them,  taught  them,  did  every- 
thing for  them,  and  was  the  sun  and  centre  of  their  little 
system,  radiating  light  and  love  without  end. 

This  accounted  largely  for  the  influence  she  exerted  over 
her  little  people.  It  was  second  nature  to  obey  her,  and 
she  was  always  there  to  encourage  or  restrain.  She  was  a 
woman  of  few  words  and  unusual  tact,  with  a  quiet  way  of 
saying  and  doing  things  that  was  very  effective.  A  mere 
suggestion  from  her  lips  went  further  than  repeated  injunc- 
tions from  some  people. 

"  My  dear,  it  is  nearly  time  for  dinner,"  or  "  for  tea." 

This  meant  clean  hands,  fresh  pinafores,  tidy  hair,  and 
a  race  to  see  who  would  be  first  at  table  before  Father 
appeared. 

How  she  managed  it  no  one  could  tell ;  but  with  the 
entire  care  and  education  of  the  children,  cooking  to  attend 
to,  washing  to  be  done  at  home,  and  all  the  housework, 
sewing  and  mending  necessary,  and  the  help  of  only  one 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  43 

maid,  she  invariably  kept  her  surroundings  neat  and 
attractive,  down  to  the  brightly  burning  fire  and  clean- 
swept  hearth.  The  httle  parlour  behind  the  shop,  though 
constantly  in  use  for  meals  and  lessons,  needlework  and  play, 
was  a  picture  of  comfort  and  good  order  ;  and  this  not  by 
virtue  of  the  distracting  process  known  as  "  setting-to- 
rights  "  so  much  as  by  a  happy  knack  of  never  letting  things 
go  wrong  or  stray  far  out  of  place. 

It  was  a  cosy  spot,  this  family  sitting-room,  and  well  in 
keeping  with  the  simple  life  to  which  Hudson  Taylor  owed 
so  much.  Entering  from  the  shop,  a  long,  old-fashioned 
couch  occupied  the  wall  to  the  right,  beyond  which  a  china- 
cupboard  filled  the  corner  with  shining  rows  of  crockery 
and  glass.  Next  came  the  fireplace  at  a  right  angle  with 
the  sofa,  making  that  end  of  the  room  attractive  on  winter 
evenings.  The  other  end  was  taken  up  with  a  window  and 
door,  leading  to  the  little  yard,  across  which  was  the  ware- 
house where  the  father's  stores  were  kept.  This  window, 
facing  west,  let  in  the  sunshine  when  the  children  were  busy 
in  the  afternoon  with  needlework  and  lessons.  A  spacious 
bookcase  filled  the  wall  between  the  fireplace  and  window, 
and  opposite  stood  a  chest  of  drawers  used  as  a  sideboard, 
between  two  doors,  one  leading  upstairs  and  the  other  down 
to  the  kitchen  premises.  A  square  table  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  was  protected  from  draughts  by  a  folding  screen 
in  the  corner  farthest  from  the  fire.  And  last,  but  not  least 
in  the  estimation  of  the  children,  a  Httle  window  over  the 
sofa  afforded  interesting  glimpses  into  the  shop  and  Market 
Place  beyond. 

The  chief  feature  in  the  room,  undoubtedly,  was  the 
bookcase,  and  it  had  also  much  to  do  with  the  order  that 
prevailed.  Over  the  lower  shelves  hung  a  curtain,  concealing 
a  characteristic  device  of  the  mother's  household  manage- 
ment. Everything  in  use  for  meals  or  lessons,  work  or  play, 
had  its  appointed  place  in  sideboard  or  cupboard,  while 
magazines,  books,  and  papers  found  hospitahty  upon  the 
ample  shelves.  But  one  shelf  behind  the  crimson  curtain 
was  unappropriated.  Clean  and  empty,  it  stood  ready  for 
emergencies.     Was  the  room  needed  for  unexpected  visitors  ? 


44  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  work  in  hand,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  laid  away  with- 
out embarrassment  and  just  as  easily  brought  out  again. 
Were  the  older  people  busy  with  letters  or  accounts  when 
the  table  was  wanted  for  a  meal  ?  A  place  was  ready  in 
which  ink  and  papers  would  be  accessible  and  out  of  danger. 
It  was  a  convenient  receptacle  at  tea-time  for  the  mother's 
sewing  or  the  children's  toys.  But  whatever  its  uses  in  the 
day-time,  it  was  always  cleared  and  dusted  before  night. 
Simple  as  such  a  plan  may  seem,  it  was  effective  because  of 
the  orderly  mind  that  carried  it  out,  and  went  far  toward 
solving  the  problem  of  how  to  turn  one  room  to  so  many 
uses  without  litter  or  confusion. 

Not  that  a  litter  was  objected  to  at  the  right  time  and  in 
the  proper  place  ;  but  the  little  hands  that  made  it  were 
expected  to  put  things  straight,  before  turning  to  other  work 
or  play.  The  children  came  to  feel  that  their  amusements 
must  never  give  other  people  trouble,  and  that  it  is  wiser 
to  do  at  once  what  has  to  be  done,  rather  than  leave  it  to 
another  time.  "  A  place  for  everything  and  everything  in 
its  place  "  was  the  working  rule  of  the  household  ;  and  that 
extra,  empty  shelf  behind  the  curtain  was  more  effective 
than  many  exhortations.  One  thing  only  made  a  deeper 
impression  in  this  connection,  and  that  was  the  fact  that 
Mother's  belongings  never  needed  tidying.  Other  people's 
possessions  might  be  more  or  less  topsy-turvy  on  occasion, 
as  bright  eyes  had  not  failed  to  discover.  But  Mother's 
drawers  and  cupboards  stood  the  test.  They  never  needed 
setting  to  rights,  because,  strange  as  it  might  seem,  they 
were  never  out  of  order. 

Personal  neatness  she  taught  them  in  the  same  practical 
way,  until  it  became  second  nature  to  feel  that  one  must  be 
clean  and  tidy,  however  simply  dressed.  A  fresh  apron  was 
ready  for  their  father's  use  in  the  shop  every  morning,  and 
the  mother's  print  gown  and  closely  fitting  cap  were  just 
as  pretty  for  breakfast,  six  days  in  the  week,  as  her  black 
satin  and  white  crepe  shawl  reserved  for  Sunday.  She  was 
very  pleasing  in  appearance,  and  the  children  were  like  her. 
The  muslin  cap  tied  under  the  chin,  with  its  soft  tulle  edging 
and  white  ribbons,  well  became  her  calm,  sweet  face.     She 


From  an  Oil  I'aintinij  by 


Mrs.  llardey. 


MRS.    JAMES    TAYLOR    OF    BARNSLEY,    IN    THE    DAYS    OF    HUDSON    TAYLORS 

CHILDHOOD. 

To  face  page  44. 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  45 

had  donned  it  on  her  wedding-day  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  times,  when  a  dainty  cap  was  always  waiting  the 
bride's  return  from  church.  Mother  would  hardly  have 
seemed  Mother  without  that  modest  headgear.  But  whether 
it  were  the  Sunday  cap,  its  gauze  ribbons  edged  with  satin, 
or  the  more  durable  muslin  for  daily  use,  it  was  equally 
fresh  and  becoming. 

Slovenliness  in  dress  under  any  circumstances  she  could 
not  endure.  Pretty  washing  frocks  were  prepared  for  the 
little  girls,  with  black  alpaca  aprons  piped  at  the  edges,  and 
they  were  trained  to  feel  that  it  was  just  as  important  to 
be  neat  and  attractive  for  household  work  before  breakfast 
as  for  entertaining  friends  at  tea.  A  work-basket  was  always 
ready  on  their  dressing-table,  and  stitches  were  put  in  as 
soon  as  needed.  Even  if  it  meant  getting  up  ten  minutes 
earlier  on  a  winter  morning,  clean  tuckers  must  be  sewn  in 
to  everyday  dresses  just  as  carefully  as  to  best  ones.  And 
their  brother  too  was  made  to  realise  that  clean  hands  and 
shoes,  nicely  kept  nails,  and  well-brushed  garments  were 
quite  as  necessary  at  home  as  in  any  company.  It  was  a 
question  of  thoroughness  and  self-respect,  and  those  were 
essentials  their  parents  required  in  everything. 

In  the  same  way  the  servant,  probably  an  inexperienced 
little  maid  when  she  came  to  them,  was  taught  to  leave  the 
kitchen  in  order  before  she  went  upstairs  to  other  duties. 
The  mother  herself  undertook  most  of  the  cooking,  and  it 
was  while  dinner  was  preparing  that  the  morning's  lessons 
were  done.  But  thanks  to  careful  management,  the  kitchen 
was  just  as  pleasant  as  the  parlour.  The  stone  floor  was 
well  scoured,  and  a  white  border  made  on  all  four  sides  to 
match  the  spotless  hearth.  The  kitchen  range  was  clean 
and  bright,  no  matter  what  might  be  cooking,  and  Mother's 
rocking-chair  made  the  whole  room  look  cosy.  Here  at  a 
table  reserved  for  the  purpose,  the  little  girls  worked  at 
their  lessons,  while  Hudson  was  similarly  employed  under 
his  father's  supervision  upstairs.  There  was  no  shirking 
work  or  playing  truant  if  their  parents  were  called  away. 
Lessons  had  to  go  on  just  the  same,  and  did  with  wonderful 
regularity. 


46  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Then  in  the  afternoon,  their  mother  had  the  older  children 
with  her  while  she  was  busy  with  her  needle.  A  great  deal 
of  sewing  had  to  be  done,  but  she  was  able  to  go  on  with  it 
while  they  read  aloud  or  wrote  from  dictation.  Many  were 
the  hours  thus  spent  over  history,  literature  and  travels. 
Hard  names  or  unfamiliar  words  they  might  not  hurry  over. 
No,  the  dictionary  had  to  be  brought  and  each  difficulty 
mastered  as  they  came  to  it.  A  real  lover  of  books  herself, 
she  early  inspired  them  with  a  taste  for  reading,  and  to  her 
accuracy  and  thoroughness  may  be  traced  the  unusual 
power  of  attention  to  detail  that  characterised  her  son  in  later 
years.  Industry  and  perseverance  also  the  children  could 
not  but  learn  from  her  example.  So  busy  was  she  that  it 
was  the  rarest  thing  to  see  her  take  time  to  enjoy  a  book, 
but  she  often  had  one  propped  up  before  her  while  her  needle 
flew,  that  she  might  catch  a  sentence  now  and  then  without 
interrupting  her  work. 

And  the  father  in  his  department  was  just  as  busy. 
Through  the  little  window  over  the  sofa,  he  might  be  seen 
hard  at  work  in  the  shop,  morning,  noon  and  night.  The 
children  lived  in  touch  with  him  almost  as  much  as  with 
their  mother,  and  he  felt  himself  no  less  responsible  for  their 
training. 

Though  stern  and  even  quick-tempered  at  times,  the 
influence  James  Taylor  exerted  in  the  life  of  his  son  can 
hardly  be  overestimated.  He  was  decidedly  a  disciplinarian. 
But  without  some  such  element  in  his  early  training  who  can 
tell  whether  Hudson  would  ever  have  become  the  man  he 
was,  by  the  grace  of  God.  Do  we  not  suffer  in  these  days 
from  too  great  a  tendency  to  slackness  and  easy-going  ? 
Even  Christian  parents  seem  content  if  they  can  keep  their 
children  moderately  happy  and  good-tempered.  But  with 
James  Taylor  this  was  not  the  point.  Life  has  to  be  lived. 
Work  must  be  accomphshed.  People  may  be  consecrated, 
gifted,  devoted,  and  yet  of  very  little  use,  because  undisci- 
plined. He  was  a  man  with  a  supreme  sense  of  duty.  The 
thing  that  ought  to  be  done  was  the  thing  he  put  first,  always. 
Ease,  pleasure,  self-improvement  had  to  take  whatever 
place  they  could.     He  was  a  man  of  faith,  but  faith  that 


MR.    JAMES    TAYLOR    IN    LATER    LIFE. 

"  For  myself  and  for  tlie  work  I  have  l)e('ii  permitted  to  do  for  God,  I  owe  an  unsjjeakable 
debt  of  gratitude  to  my  Ijeloved  and  lionoured  parents,  wlio  liavc  entered  into  rest,  but  the 
influence  of  whose  lives  will  never  pass  away." — J.  Hudson  Taylor. 

To  /are  jiage  40. 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  47 

went  hand  in  hand  with  works  of  the  most  practical  kind. 
It  was  not  enough  for  him  that  his  children  were  happy  and 
amused,  well-cared-for  and  obedient  even.  They  must  be 
doing  their  duty,  getting  through  their  daily  tasks,  acquiring 
habits  that  alone  could  make  them  dependable  men  and 
women  in  days  to  come. 

The  importance  of  punctuahty,  for  example,  he  impressed 
both  by  teaching  and  example.  No  one  was  allowed  to  be 
late  for  meals  or  any  other  engagement.  The  mother  called 
the  children  herself,  at  seven  every  morning.  No  bells  were 
rung,  but  when  the  clock  struck  eight  every  one  had  to  be 
at  table. 

"  If  there  are  five  people,"  he  would  say,  "  and  they  are 
kept  waiting  one  minute,  do  you  not  see  that  five  minutes 
are  lost  that  can  never  be  found  again  ?  " 

Dinner  was  at  half-past  twelve  and  tea  at  half-past  four  ; 
but  if  these  meals  were  delayed  five  minutes  it  would  mean 
nearly  an  hour  wasted  out  of  one  little  day.  And  what 
would  that  amount  up  to  in  a  week,  a  month,  a  year  ? 

Dilatoriness  in  dressing  or  undressing,  or  in  beginning 
when  the  time  came  to  begin,  he  also  reprehended  as  a 
serious  waste  of  time.  "  Learn  to  dress  quickly,"  he  would 
say,  "  for  you  have  to  do  it  once,  at  least,  every  day  of  your 
life.  And  begin  promptly  whatever  the  work  in  hand.  To 
loiter  does  not  help,  it  only  makes  the  task  more  difficult." 

"  See  if  you  can  do  without  "  was  another  of  his  maxims. 
This  of  course  applied,  among  other  things,  to  the  simple 
pleasures  of  the  table.  Porridge  with  bread  and  butter  for 
breakfast,  meat  once  a  day,  and  bread  and  butter  or  toast 
for  tea  was  the  usual  routine.  But  sugar  and  preserves 
were  allowed  in  moderation,  and  extra-nice  cakes  or  puddings 
occasionally  found  a  place.  As  a  rule  the  children  shared 
whatever  was  provided,  their  parents  delighting  to  give 
them  pleasure  no  less  than  other  fathers  and  mothers  the 
wide  world  over.  At  the  same  time  they  fully  reaUsed  the 
lifelong  influence  of  little  habits.  At  any  cost  to  them- 
selves and  within  wise  limits  to  the  children,  they  felt  they 
must  secure  to  them  the  power  of  self-control. 

"  By-and-by,"  the  father  would  explain,  "  you  will  have 


48  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

to  say  '  No  '  to  yourself  when  we  are  not  there  to  help  you  ; 
and  very  difficult  you  will  find  it  when  you  want  a  thing 
tremendously.  So  let  us  try  to  practise  now,  for  the  sooner 
you  begin  the  stronger  will  be  the  habit." 

It  was  a  principle  difficult  of  application,  no  doubt,  when 
a  favourite  dish  was  in  question.  But  though  it  was  at 
least  as  hard  for  him  as  for  them,  he  would  encourage  them 
to  go  the  whole  length  on  occasions,  saying  cheerfully  : 

"  Who  will  see  if  they  can  do  without  to-day  ?  " 

The  children  were  not  blamed  if  they  could  not  respond 
as  he  desired,  but  were  commended  if  they  did,  the  mother 
generally  arranging  some  little  surprise  at  night — a  few 
almonds  and  raisins,  or  an  orange,  with  an  extra-loving  kiss. 

Sweets  or  confectionery  they  never  thought  of  buying  for 
themselves.  Pennies  honestly  earned  were  far  too  precious 
to  be  squandered  thus.  Each  one  had  a  little  brown  earthen- 
ware jar  in  the  sitting-room  cupboard,  in  which  their  savings 
were  kept.  Whenever  eleven  pennies  could  be  produced, 
their  father  would  add  one,  giving  in  exchange  a  bright  new 
shilling.  This  was  a  transaction  much  looked  forward  to, 
and  encouraged  the  children  in  thoughtfulness  about  the 
use  of  money.  These  may  seem  trivial  details,  scarcely 
worth  recording,  but  it  is  just  such  httle  habits  that  in  the 
long  run  strengthen  character  and  make  all  the  difference 
between  weakness  and  power  to  do  and  be  one's  best. 

The  spiritual  life  of  his  children  was  equally  the  father's 
care.  Family  worship  he  conducted  regularly,  after  both 
breakfast  and  tea.  Every  member  of  the  household  had 
to  be  present,  and  the  passage  read  was  explained  in  such 
practical  fashion  that  even  the  children  could  not  fail  to 
see  its  application.  He  was  very  particular  about  giving 
them  the  whole  Word  of  God,  omitting  nothing.  The  Old 
Testament  as  well  as  the  New  was  taken  in  regular  course, 
and  at  the  close  of  every  day's  reading  the  date  was  carefully 
entered  in  the  family  Bible.  On  Sundays  he  gave  even 
more  time  to  this  home-ministry,  in  spite  of  the  services  for 
which  he  was  responsible,  and  that  often  involved  a  consider- 
able journey  on  foot.  While  thoroughly  approving  of 
Sunday  Schools  for  those  who  needed  them,  he  did  not 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  49 

consider  his  own  children  to  be  among  the  number,  and 
would  relinquish  to  no  one  the  privilege  of  teaching  them 
in  the  things  of  God. 

He  gave  time  also  to  earnest,  detailed  prayer  on  their 
behalf,  and  taught  them  to  pray.  From  infancy,  the  little 
happenings  of  every  day  were  made  occasions  for  drawing 
near  to  God.  Nothing  was  too  trivial  to  interest  Father 
and  Mother,  because  the  httle  folk  were  dear  to  them,  and 
nothing  was  too  small  to  bring  to  Him  who  loved  them 
better  still.  If  there  were  something  to  thank  their  parents 
for,  or  obtain  help  in,  they  would  not  wait  till  the  end  of  the 
day  to  do  so.  And  in  the  same  way  they  learned  to  come 
"  without  ceasing,"  with  thanksgiving  and  prayer,  to  the 
greater  Father  in  heaven.  It  was  just  as  natural  to  Amelia 
at  three  years  old  to  say  reverently,  "  O  Lord,  take  away 
my  naughty  temper  and  give  me  a  new  heart,"  as  to  ask 
pardon  of  the  mother  she  had  grieved  ;  and,  baby  as  she 
was,  she  felt  it  no  less  important. 

At  one  time  the  father  made  it  a  practice  to  take  the 
older  children  to  his  room  every  day  for  prayer.  At  the 
big  four-post  bed,  all  three  would  kneel  beside  him  while 
with  his  arm  about  them  he  poured  out  his  heart  to  God  for 
each  in  turn  in  a  way  they  never  could  forget.  It  was  not 
much  he  could  give  them  of  wealth  or  worldly  advantage, 
but  he  could  and  did  imbue  them  with  a  strong,  simple 
faith  hke  his  own.  He  taught  them  to  reverence  the  Bible 
as  the  Word  of  God  from  cover  to  cover,  trusting  every 
promise  to  mean  at  least  all  it  says.  "  God  cannot  lie,"  he 
would  exclaim  with  intense  conviction,  "  He  cannot  mis- 
lead you.  He  cannot  fail."  And  instinctively  the  children 
began  to  trust  in  the  same  way. 

As  they  were  able  to  understand,  he  explained  to  them 
the  necessity  for  maintaining  the  life  of  the  soul  by  prayer 
and  Bible  study,  as  the  life  of  the  body  is  maintained  by 
exercise  and  food.  To  omit  this  was  to  neglect  the  one  thing 
needful.  He  spoke  of  it  frequently  as  a  matter  of  vital 
importance,  and  arranged  for  every  one  in  the  house  to  have 
at  least  half  an  hour  daily,  alone  with  God.  The  result  was 
that  even  the  httle  ones  began  to  discover  the  secret  of  a 

E 


50  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

happy  day.  Before  breakfast  in  the  morning,  and  again 
as  evening  was  drawing  in,  they  went  up  to  their  own  rooms 
for  reading  and  prayer.  They  needed  it  just  as  much  as 
older  people,  and  in  their  childish  way  came  to  reaUse  that 
no  one  can  be  good  and  happy  all  day  long  without  heart- 
to-heart  fellowship  with  the  Lord.  But  it  was  example 
that  impressed  these  things  upon  them  more  than  precept. 
"  Let  them  see  thee  talking  to  thy  God  "  was  golden  counsel 
these  parents  did  not  fail  to  improve. 

Thus  the  children  grew  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit  as  the 
days  went  on.  Hudson  was  still  too  dehcate  to  go  to  school, 
but  the  education  he  received  at  home  more  than  made  up 
for  this  loss.  Not  only  were  his  studies  systematic  and  his 
general  intelligence  developed,  but  the  conversation  of  his 
parents  and  their  visitors  awakened  thought  and  purpose 
to  which  the  average  schoolboy  is  a  stranger,  and  his  father's 
daily  life,  as  he  grew  old  enough  to  share  it,  in  no  wise 
weakened  these  impressions. 

James  Taylor  was  sociable  and  talked  freely  in  congenial 
company.  He  was  gifted  with  warm  sympathies  and  sound 
common  sense  ;  so  much  so  indeed  that  few  men  in  Bamsley 
were  more  sought  after  for  advice  in  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual  things.  Over  the  counter  and  in  the  httle  room 
behind  the  shop,  many  an  hour  was  spent  with  those  who 
came  to  him  in  trouble.  On  Market  Days  another  class  of 
visitors  would  drop  in — friends  from  the  country,  to  many 
of  whom  he  was  indebted  for  Sunday  hospitahty,  and  brother 
local  preachers  sure  of  a  welcome.  A  cup  of  tea  by  the 
fireside  gave  opportunity  for  many  a  "  dish  of  chat," 
seasoned  with  kindly  humour,  in  which  the  children  could 
not  fail  to  be  interested. 

But  Quarter  Day  was  looked  forward  to  with  still  more 
Hvely  expectation.  For  then  fellow-workers  came  in  from 
every  part  of  the  circuit,  bringing  the  contributions  of  those 
they  represented  toward  the  support  of  the  ministry.  In 
the  Chapel  on  Pinfold  Hill  their  business  was  transacted. 
Arrangements  for  the  following  quarter  were  considered, 
missionary  meetings  planned,  and  financial  matters  settled  ; 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  51 

after  which,  luncheon  was  served  in  the  vestry  by  the  Circuit 
stewards  and  their  wives.  Then  came  an  opportunity  for 
private  hospitahty,  which  James  Taylor  frequently  improved 
by  inviting  one  and  all  to  tea  at  21  Cheapside.  This  was  a 
favourite  rendezvous,  and  at  five  o'clock  the  drawing-room 
over  the  shop  would  be  well  filled  with  guests.  Those  were 
times  when  conversation  was  at  its  best ;  good,  homely 
Yorkshire  talk,  as  racy  as  it  was  profitable.  And  how  the 
children  listened  !  Half  a  century  later  the  remembrance 
had  not  faded  from  their  minds. 

I  used  to  love  to  hear  them  talk — those  local  preachers  gathered 
round  our  table  for  high  tea.  Theology,  sermons,  politics,  the  Lord's 
work  at  home  and  abroad,  all  were  discussed  with  so  much  earnestness 
and  intelligence.     It  made  a  great  impression  upon  us  as  children.^ 

It  was  on  these  occasions,  chiefly,  that  the  subject  of 
Foreign  Missions  came  up,  and  the  Httle  folk  were  delighted 
by  many  a  story  from  far-off  lands.  China  still  held,  as  it 
always  had,  the  first  place  in  their  father's  sympathies,  and 
he  used  often  to  lament  the  indifference  of  the  Church  to  its 
appalling  need.  It  specially  troubled  him  that  the  denomina- 
tion to  which  he  belonged  should  be  doing  nothing  for  its 
evangelisation.  Methodists,  who  in  the  days  of  Thomas 
Coke  had  been  foremost  in  sending  missionaries  to  the 
heathen,  still  gloried  in  Wesley's  motto,  "  The  world  is  my 
parish."  A  hundred  years  had  passed  since  the  birth  of  the 
great  Revival,  and  in  the  summer  of  1839  (when  Hudson 
was  seven  years  old)  the  "  Centenary  Jubilee  "  was  celebrated 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  in  a  spirit  worthy  of  the  memories 
it  recalled.  Methodists  everywhere  exceeded  themselves  in 
liberality  and  zeal  for  the  cause  of  God.  Thank-offerings 
filled  their  treasuries,  world-wide  prayer  resulted  in  a  great 
increase  of  spiritual  blessing,  and  notable  advance  was  made 
in  evangelistic  labours  both  at  home  and  abroad.  But 
among  the  new  Missions  projected  and  the  new  workers 
sent  out,  none  were  destined  for  China.  It  seemed  to  be 
taken  for  granted  that  nothing  could  be  done  or  even 
attempted  there.     Morrison,  the  lonely  pioneer  of  Protestant 

1  To  Mrs.  B.  Broorahall,  the  "  little  Amelia  "  of  those  days,  we  are 
indebted  for  many  of  the  recollections  incorporated  in  this  chapter. 


52  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Missions  in  that  land,  had  passed  away  five  years  previously, 
and  no  one  had  been  able  to  take  his  place.  Canton  was 
still  the  only  mission  station,  recently  manned  by  a  few 
American  workers,  including  Dr.  Peter  Parker,  who  had  just 
opened  the  first  hospital  on  Chinese  soil.  But  beyond  the 
narrow  limits  of  that  one  settlement  lay  the  whole  vast 
empire  with  its  four  hundred  millions,  amongst  whom  no 
one  was  living  and  preaching  Christ.^  These  things  pressed 
as  a  burden  on  the  heart  of  Hudson  Taylor's  father. 

"  Why  do  we  not  send  our  missionaries  there  !  "  he  would 
exclaim.  "  That  is  the  country  to  aim  at,  with  its  teeming 
population,  its  strong,  intelligent,  scholarly  people." 

He  could  not  understand  the  apathy  of  the  Church  about 
this  magnificent  field,  the  Gibraltar  of  heathenism.  And 
the  listening  children  were  confirmed  in  their  conviction 
that  this  was  indeed  the  greatest,  the  most  neglected  and 
most  promising  of  missionary  lands. 

Later  on  their  interest  was  increased  by  Peter  Parley's 
China,  a  little  book  they  read  and  reread  until  they  knew 
it  almost  by  heart.  It  had  many  illustrations,  tiny  pictures 
of  the  old-fashioned  kind,  and  so  impressed  Amelia  that  she 
decided  to  cast  in  her  lot  with  Hudson,  who  had  long  ago 
made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  China  as  a  missionary.  The 
parents  did  not  fail  to  notice  these  childish  purposes,  though 
with  some  sorrow  of  heart.  It  had  been  their  chief  desire 
that  Hudson  might  be  called  to  just  such  service,  but  on 
account  of  his  continued  delicacy  the  hope  had  been  gradually 
abandoned.  He,  at  any  rate,  would  never  be  strong  enough 
for  such  a  life. 

It  was  manifest,  however,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
working  in  his  heart,  for  nothing  interested  him  so  deeply 
as  the  things  of  God.  He  loved  to  go  with  his  father  to  the 
country  chapels  in  which  he  was  preaching  Sunday  by 
Sunday.  The  quickening  impulse  of  the  great  Centenary 
was  being  felt  in  that  Yorkshire  district,  and  James  Taylor's 

1  Romanism  in  China  was  just  recovering  from  its  second  period  of 
decline,  and  foreign  priests  were  to  be  found  at  a  few  points  in  the  interior 
on  the  ground  of  ancient  rights.  The  Order  of  Jesuits,  suppressed  by 
Pope  Clement  XIV.  in  1773,  had  been  re-established  half  a  century  later, 
and  from  that  time  (1822)  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  entered  upon  a 
stronger,  more  aggressive  policy  in  China. 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  53 

ministry  was  in  power  and  blessing.  Even  his  little  son 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  time.  Love  for  Christ,  the 
master-passion  of  his  life,  and  the  unquenchable  longing  to 
bring  others  to  know  and  love  Him  too,  evidently  had  their 
beginning  as  early  as  the  Jubilee  of  1839  '<  ^^^  it  was  of  those 
days  his  mother  wrote  : 

When  about  seven  years  of  age,  Hudson  frequently  accompanied 
his  father  into  the  country,  when  he  was  going  to  preach.  It  was  a 
time  of  religious  revival,  and  an  after-meeting  was  usually  held  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  service  to  pray  for  blessing  upon  the  Word  and  for 
the  conversion  of  sinners.  On  such  occasions  persons  deeply  convinced 
of  sin  and  desiring  to  obtain  peace  with  God  were  invited  to  come 
forward  to  be  prayed  with  and  pointed  to  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  In  these  meetings  his  devout  and 
prayerful  earnestness  were  often  remarked  ;  and  when,  as  was  fre- 
quently the  case,  burdened  souls  found  comfort  by  resting  on  Jesus 
and  His  atonement,  and  believers  sang  "  Praise  God,  from  whom  all 
blessings  flow,"  he  would  join  as  heartily  as  any,  while  his  face  glowed 
with  delight. 

But  this  spirit  of  joy  in  the  Lord  and  concern  for  the 
welfare  of  others  did  not  depend  upon  revival  meetings.  It 
was  fostered  by  the  influence  of  his  parents  and  the  daily 
atmosphere  of  home.  Much  of  their  conversation  was  about 
spiritual  things,  and  of  a  kind  that  made  salvation  and 
living  for  God  appear,  as  indeed  they  are,  the  most  important 
matters  under  the  sun.  And  the  children  could  easily  see 
that  this  was  no  mere  talk,  but  that  their  parents  were 
consistent  in  putting  God  first  and  in  seeking  to  help  others 
to  do  the  same.  The  mother  was  for  many  years  too  delicate 
to  carry  on  her  weekly  class  or  attempt  much  outside  work. 
Her  hands  were  more  than  full  with  household  duties.  But 
in  her  own  circle  her  heart  still  burned  with  love  for  souls 
that  could  not  rest  till  all  within  its  reach  were  won.  The 
children  knew  how  she  thought  of  and  prayed  for  the  servants 
that  came  under  their  roof  and  for  the  successive  assistants 
in  the  shop.  Did  they  not  share  her  joy  when  these  young 
people  were  brought,  as  sooner  or  later  they  always  were, 
to  a  living  faith  in  Christ  ?  Mother's  closed  door  in  the 
middle  of  the  busy  day  had  a  world  of  meaning  for  the 
household.     Those  were  the  seasons  of  quiet  waiting  upon 


54  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

God  that  renewed  her  strength,  and  enabled  her  to  make 
so  attractive  to  others  her  unseen  Friend.  Happy  the  son 
whose  every  remembrance  of  his  mother  affords  fresh  in- 
spiration to  a  Hfe  of  Christhke  love  and  service. 

Happy  too  the  children  so  trained  in  habits  of  obedience 
to  their  earthly  parents  that  they  learn  almost  instinctively 
to  obey  and  honour  God.  To  James  Taylor  this  was  a 
matter  of  supreme  importance.  He  felt  with  a  deep  sense 
of  responsibility  that  Christian  parents  are  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  family  as  the  direct  representatives  of  Him 
"  from  whom  every  fatherhood  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 
named."  To  permit  disobedience  would  be  not  only  un- 
faithfulness to  God,  but  cruel  injustice  to  the  children, 
wholly  misleading  them  as  to  the  character  of  the  Heavenly 
Father  with  whom  through  life  they  have  to  do.  His  duty 
on  the  contrary  was  to  train  them  to  such  prompt  and  loyal 
obedience  to  their  earthly  parents  that  they  would  be 
prepared  to  render  like  submission  to  the  will  of  God.  He 
showed  them  that  such  obedience  requires  the  exercise  of 
the  highest  powers,  faith,  love,  patience,  self-control,  and 
is  a  faculty  not  easily  acquired.  Unless  they  learned  the 
lesson  in  childhood,  they  would  grow  up  with  unyielded 
wills,  too  wayward  and  undisciplined  to  be  of  use  in  the 
service  of  God.  The  sorrow  and  danger  of  such  a  position 
he  showed  them  from  many  passages  of  Scripture,  dwelling 
especially  on  Eli's  failure  in  governing  his  sons,  the  sin  and 
misery  it  entailed,  and  the  dishonour  brought  upon  the 
name  of  God. 

So  much  did  he  dread  the  consequences  of  over-indulgence 
that  he  went,  perhaps,  too  far  in  the  opposite  extreme.  But 
even  when  he  seemed  most  severe  and  the  children  were 
tempted  to  rebel,  their  mother's  voice  quickly  recalled  them  : 

"  My  dear,  he  is  your  father.  Not  a  word  !  Remember, 
'  Honour  thy  father.'  " 

But  there  were  aching  hearts,  at  times,  over  what  seemed 
a  reproof  or  punishment  of  needless  asperity,  as  when 
Amelia  was  sent  to  bed  one  Sunday  afternoon  for  leaving  a 
morsel  on  her  plate  at  dinner,  unfinished.  But  though  it 
cost  tears  at  the  time,  she  came  to  feel  that  Father  had  erred 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  55 

on  the  safe  side,  if  he  had  erred  at  all,  and  that  he  and 
Mother  sacrificed  themselves  in  this  as  in  everything  else 
for  the  good  of  those  entrusted  to  their  care. 

For  the  children's  pleasures  too  their  parents  thought 
and  planned,  and  many  were  the  red-letter  days  that  dotted 
the  calendar  throughout  those  early  years.  Saturday  after- 
noon was  always  much  looked  forward  to,  for  then  visits 
might  be  paid  to  their  friends  across  the  Green,  to  the 
Neatbys,  or  the  Cope  cousins  whose  beautiful  garden  offered 
endless  attractions.  Or  better  still,  Hudson  and  Amelia 
would  take  their  hoops  in  spring  and  summer,  and  run  off 
alone  to  the  Lunn  Woods  down  the  Cudworth  Road.  Per- 
fectly happy  in  each  other's  company,  they  would  wander 
for  hours  up  and  down  those  shady  glades,  chasing  butterflies 
and  gathering  flowers  to  their  hearts'  content.  They  never 
thought  of  quarrelling.  Hudson  was  his  sister's  protector 
rather,  and  considered  himself  responsible  to  take  care  of 
and  keep  her  happy,  though  he  could  not  always  overcome 
a  boyish  tendency  to  tease. 

"  Now,  my  child,  don't  be  teased,  and  he  will  soon  leave 
off,"  the  mother  would  say  with  a  smile,  well  knowing  that 
Hudson's  teasing  was  never  more  than  fun. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  there  was  nothing  he  would  not  have 
denied  himself  for  the  good  of  this  dearly  loved  sister. 
While  she  was  still  httle  and  afraid  to  be  left  in  the  dark, 
he  would  frequently  sacrifice  an  hour  with  his  book  by  the 
fireside  to  keep  her  company.  When  it  was  cold  he  would 
sit  beside  her  on  the  pillow  with  his  feet  under  the  bedclothes, 
telling  the  most  fearsome,  fascinating  stories,  until  she 
drifted  happily  into  the  land  of  dreams. 

Their  enjoyment  of  the  country  was  greatly  increased 
by  the  companionship  of  their  father,  who  often  went  with 
them  on  Saturday  afternoon  for  long,  delightful  walks. 
How  they  loved  the  butterflies,  birds,  and  flowers  about 
which  he  told  them  !  It  was  better  to  wander  with  him  in 
such  company  than  even  to  visit  the  wonderful  fairs  on 
the  Green.  Twice  every  year  these  great  occasions  came, 
with  all  the  excitement  of  shows,  menageries,  and  merry-go- 
rounds,  to  say  nothing  of  stalls  passing  description.     But 


56  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

though  they  enjoyed  the  bewildering  scene,  keeping  close 
to  their  father's  side  as  he  led  them  through  the  crowds, 
it  was  a  different  and  doubtful  joy,  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  other.  The  green  woods  never  palled,  or  left  one  jaded 
and  dissatisfied. 

And  then  at  home  one  could  pursue  the  subject  still. 
Careful  and  orderly  as  she  was,  the  mother  fully  entered  into 
the  feelings  of  her  little  naturalists,  and  afforded  every 
facility  for  the  wonderful  collections  that  grew  from  these 
country  walks.  Their  father  encouraged  them  too,  and 
subscribed  for  a  magazine  of  Natural  History  that  coming 
month  by  month  did  not  a  httle  to  deepen  intelligent  interest. 

One  thing  the  parents  specially  inculcated  was  thoughtful 
consideration  for  living  creatures.  To  wilfully  hurt  a  fly 
would  have  been  an  offence  severely  punished ;  and  from 
babyhood  the  children  were  made  to  reaUse  that  all  cruelty 
to  dumb,  helpless  creatures  was  a  sin  against  God  Himself. 

"  What  you  sow  in  this  way,"  the  father  would  assure 
them,  "  you  will  certainly  reap.  You  will  be  made  to  suffer 
for  all  the  suffering  you  inflict,  as  God  is  God  and  knows 
everything." 

Even  flowers  they  might  not  gather  unless  they  really 
wanted  to  keep  them,  and  over  their  collections  of  insects 
and  butterflies  the  greatest  care  was  exercised.  Hudson, 
who  was  intensely  interested  in  these  beautiful  creatures, 
fully  shared  the  sohcitude  of  his  parents  that  they  should 
not  be  made  to  suffer.  Pill-boxes  large  and  small  were 
supphed  him  from  the  shop,  in  which  air-holes  were  carefully 
pricked,  so  that  he  might  bring  home  his  treasures  "  comfort- 
ably," and  then  a  Httle  chloroform  precluded  the  possibihty 
of  pain. 

Other  happy  memories  for  children  and  parents  alike 
centred  round  the  festivities  that  once  a  year  gathered  the 
family  circle  at  "  Grandmamma's."  On  Christmas  Day  her 
sons  and  daughters  dined  with  her  in  state,  and  on  New 
Year's  Day  she  resigned  possession  to  the  younger  generation. 
Tall  and  stately  as  she  was,  Mary  Shepherd  of  the  long-ago 
days  inspired  only  gratitude  and  affection  among  her 
numerous  grandchildren.     Troops  of  merry  boys  and  girls 


NURTURE  AND  ADMONITION  57 

played  hide-and-seek  all  over  the  house,  and  revelled  in 
the  good  things  her  hospitaUty  provided.  They  were  quite 
a  clan  by  this  time,  though  the  invitation  extended  to  first 
cousins  only  ;  and  certainly  none  among  them  had  more 
capacity  for  enjoyment  than  the  unspoiled  little  people  from 
the  chemist's  home  on  the  Market  Place. 

But  to  them  the  happiest  days  of  all  were  not  those  high 
days  and  holidays.  Through  the  mists  of  childhood  the 
brightest  associations  lingered  about  one  dear  figure  in  the 
repose  that  always  seemed  to  accompany  a  white  crepe  shawl 
and  satin  gown.  Sunday  was  the  day  on  which  Mother 
gave  herself  to  them  as  she  could  not  through  the  week, 
and  if  there  was  one  thing  she  cared  about,  it  was  that  that 
day  should  be  to  every  member  of  the  household  the  happiest 
and  most  helpful  of  the  seven.  In  the  morning  the  children 
went  with  her  regularly  to  the  House  of  God,  and  there  was 
more  leisure  to  enjoy  companionship  at  home  on  Sunday. 
But  in  addition.  Mother  had  ways  and  means  for  making 
that  day  different  from  all  others  and  much  to  be  desired. 
The  nicest  toys  and  picture-books  belonged  to  Sunday,  as 
well  as  the  prettiest  frocks  and  a  cosy  fire  in  the  drawing- 
room  because  the  piano  was  there.  Mother's  sweet  voice 
made  hymn-singing  a  delight.  No  talks  were  like  her 
talks  over  the  Bible,  not  to  speak  of  Pilgrim  s  Progress  and 
other  books  that  only  appeared  that  day.  Then  she  always 
had  a  basket  of  fruit  for  her  Httle  people  in  the  afternoon. 
And  just  to  see  her  looking  so  sweet  and  restful  as  she 
shared  their  enjoyments  was  not  the  least  part  of  the 
happiness  of  the  day. 

Yes,  home  was  home  indeed  and  the  nearest  place  to 
heaven,  because  it  held  that  mother  in  whose  heart  was  shed 
abroad  the  very  love  of  God. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   FINISHED   WORK   OF   CHRIST 
1843-1849.    Aet.  11-17, 

Upon  a  life  I  did  not  live, 

Upon  a  death  I  did  not  die, 
Another's  hfe.  Another's  death, 

I  stake  my  whole  eternity. 

Thus  childhood's  years  passed  by,  and  all  unconsciously 
Hudson  Taylor  was  drawing  near  the  crisis  of  his  life. 

Outwardly  he  was  now  a  bright  lad  of  seventeen,  with 
few  anxieties  or  cares,  but  inwardly  he  was  passing  through 
a  period  of  trial.  Events  that  had  transpired  since  the 
close  of  the  preceding  chapter  had  brought  him  into  contact 
with  the  world  as  it  is  beyond  the  shelter  of  a  Christian  home. 
Under  the  stress  of  new  experiences  he  had  begun  to  think 
for  himself  and  live  his  life  more  or  less  independently  of 
others,  and  a  difficult  business  he  found  it,  until  he  learned 
to  trust  a  higher  strength  than  his  own. 

His  troubles  seem  to  have  begun  when  at  eleven  years 
of  age  he  was  first  sent  to  school,  though  it  was  only  a  day- 
school,  conducted  by  Mr.  Laycock,  a  friend  of  the  family. 
After  John  Taylor's  death  and  the  removal  of  the  reed- 
making  business  to  larger  premises,  Mr.  Laycock  had  rented 
the  long,  low  factory  near  the  corner  of  Pitt  and  York  Streets 
and  had  turned  it  into  class-rooms  for  the  accommodation 
of  fifty  or  sixty  lads.  The  situation  was  good,  and  his  able 
management  attracted  the  best  pupils  in  town.  Here  then, 
close  to  the  home  in  which  his  grandmother  still  Hved, 
Hudson  began  his  brief  career  as  a  schoolboy. 

58 


THE  FINISHED  WORK  OF  CHRIST  59 

It  was  brief  for  several  reasons,  one  of  which  was  the 
continued  dehcacy  of  health  that  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  be  regular  in  attendance.  Hardly  a  week  passed 
without  his  having  to  miss  one  or  more  days  on  account  of 
illness,  and  at  other  times  it  was  difficult  to  avoid  over-study. 
Still,  association  with  boys  of  his  own  age  was  felt  to  be  so 
desirable  that  every  effort  was  made  to  continue  it. 

He  intensely  enjoyed  study,  and  was  so  eager  to  work 
that  the  arithmetic  master  often  handed  over  to  him 
problems  that  he  had  hardly  time  for  himself.  "  See  that 
you  bring  them  back  in  the  morning,"  he  would  say  with  a 
smile.  And  Hudson,  who  knew  why  they  were  wanted, 
worked  with  a  will,  falling  back  upon  his  father's  help  if 
they  proved  too  intricate.  He  was  not  sufficiently  a  lover 
of  boyish  sports  to  become  a  general  favourite,  but  some 
enduring  friendships  were  made,  and  the  pursuits  of  the 
playground,  though  not  for  him  specially  attractive,  had 
their  valuable  effect  on  character. 

On  the  whole,  however,  his  school-life  seems  to  have 
been  neither  happy  nor  helpful.  It  was  a  great  change 
from  home,  and  he  missed  the  spiritual  atmosphere  to  which 
he  had  been  accustomed.  Needing  more  than  ever  the 
resource  of  prayer,  he  allowed  the  busy  days  to  pass  without 
taking  time  to  be  alone  with  God. 

"  His  religious  earnestness  began  to  abate,"  his  mother  tells  us, 
"  and  gradually  declined,  until  he  lost  peace  with  God." 

The  joyous  faith  of  childhood  passed  away,  and  he  awoke 
to  find  the  world  a  very  different  place  without  the  sunshine 
of  the  Presence  he  had  loved  in  earher  days.  His  mother's 
concern  was  deep  and  prayerful,  but  do  what  she  would, 
nothing  seemed  to  restore  that  lost  God-consciousness. 

For  six  years  altogether  he  was  in  an  unsettled  state 
spiritually,  trying  hard  to  "  make  himself  a  Christian," 
but  finding  it  of  all  efforts  the  most  discouraging,  and  sure 
to  end  in  failure  if  not  despair.  He  was  early  proving  the 
truth  of  the  profound  though  simple  warning  :  "  Without 
Me  ye  can  do  nothing." 

Yes,  those  are  difficult  years,  from  eleven  to  seventeen. 


6o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  young  heart  finds  itself  assailed  by  perplexing  problems, 
attracted  by  undreamed-of  possibilities,  disturbed  by  un- 
reasoning hopes  and  fears.  They  are  often  lonely  years,  for 
we  outgrow  the  associations  of  childhood  and  do  not  quickly 
find  our  own  real  friends  ;  years  in  which  God  is  more  than 
ever  needful  to  us,  and  yet  the  first  force  of  temptation, 
the  first  glamour  of  the  world,  the  first  suggestion  of  doubt, 
reinforced  it  may  be  by  love,  or  sin,  or  sorrow,  obscure  the 
shining  of  His  face.  Many  a  seemingly  careless  lad  and 
schoolgirl  carries  an  aching  heart,  a  heart  just  hungry  for 
the  touch  of  sympathy  older  people  often  fail  to  give,  because 
they  do  not  understand.  But  often,  too,  that  touch  can 
come  from  God  alone.  Surely,  did  we  see  but  deep  enough, 
the  spiritual  needs  and  longings  of  childhood  would  drive 
us  to  our  knees  in  earnest  prayer.  For  only  God  can  make  us 
wise  to  speak  the  "  word  in  season  "  to  the  soul  whose  very 
existence  perhaps  we  hardly  realise,  because  it  dwells  in 
the  boy  or  girl  to  whose  noise  and  merriment  we  are  so 
accustomed.  Pray,  pray  !  These  young  souls  are  awake, 
and  moving  rapidly  for  good  or  ill  beyond  our  care. 

Such  a  word  in  season  came  to  Hudson  Taylor  in  his 
first  year  at  school,  and  was  never  forgotten.  It  was  the 
summer  of  1844,  and  he  went  with  older  people  to  a  Camp 
Meeting  in  a  park  near  Leeds.  Among  the  speakers  was 
Mr.  Henry  Reed  of  Launceston,  Tasmania,  who  in  the  course 
of  his  address  told  the  story  of  a  man  named  Gardener 
whom  he  had  known  in  the  Colonies  years  before.  His 
subject  was  the  sin  and  peril  of  resisting  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  upon  the  little  lad  from  Barnsley  it  made  an  impression 
that  never  passed  away.^ 

Gardener  was  one  of  six  convicts  under  sentence  of  death, 
with  whom  Mr,  Reed  spent  the  last,  terrible  night  before 

'  Long  years  after,  when  Mr.  Henry  Reed  had  become  a  warm  friend 
and  supporter  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,  writing 
to  him  about  other  matters,  recalled  these  facts. 

"  It  must  be  about  thirty  years  ago  that  I  had  the  privilege  of  hearing 
you  speak  at  a  missionary  meeting  in  a  park  near  Leeds.  I  was  then  a 
boy,  and  unconverted.  But  one  incident  you  narrated,  showing  the  danger 
of  quenching  the  strivings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  riveted  itself  on  my  memory, 
and  in  after  years  has  been  often  repeated  by  me  to  Chinese  audiences.  .  .  . 
I  believe  that  in  several  instances  in  China  it  has  been  used  of  God  to  bring 
persons  in  a  hesitating  state  of  mind  to  the  point  of  decision  for  Christ." 


THE  FINISHED  WORK  OF  CHRIST  6i 

their  execution.  Condemned  for  murder,  he  had  long  denied 
the  charges  brought  against  him,  but  finally  through  his 
own  confession  the  truth  was  brought  to  light.  It  then 
appeared  that  shortly  before  the  crime  was  committed  he 
had  been  conscious  as  never  before  of  the  pleading  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  of  the  nearness  of  God. 

Walking  up  Cataract  Hill,  a  beautiful  spot  near  Launces- 
ton,  he  had  even  been  startled  by  a  voice  behind  him, 
earnestly  saying  : 

"  Gardener,  give  Me  thy  heart." 

He  turned  to  face  the  speaker,  but  no  one  was  in  sight. 
He  was  alone  under  the  open  sky,  alone  with  an  awakened 
conscience  and  the  all-seeing  God. 

"  My  son,  give  Me  thy  heart." 

His  Maker  must  have  spoken.  No  other  voice  could  stir 
the  soul  like  that.  What  should  he  do  ?  Yes,  that  was 
the  question. 

Long  and  troubled  were  his  ponderings,  for  the  call  was 
unwelcome.  He  did  not  want,  just  then,  to  be  a  Christian. 
It  would  upset  his  plans,  interfere  with  his  prospects  of  success. 
No,  he  must  make  money  first,  come  what  might.  Later 
on,  at  another  time,  a  "  more  convenient  season,"  he  would 
reconsider  the  matter.  God  was  merciful.  There  would  be 
another  chance.  And  so,  deliberately  resisting  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  went  on  up  the  hill — went  on  to  meet  the  tempter 
in  his  own  strength. 

That  night  alone  in  their  shack  he  saw  his  partner  begin 
to  count  a  little  store  of  savings  as  he  sat  over  the  fire. 
Seven  one-pound  notes  lay  in  his  hand.  Gardener  became 
interested.  Then  all  at  once  an  overwhelming  desire  to 
obtain  that  money  took  possession  of  him.  Never  before 
had  he  felt  such  a  passion  for  gold.  All  restraints  of  con- 
science were  swept  away.    His  one,  his  only  thought  became : 

"  I  must  and  will  have  it.     But  how  ?  " 

Then  followed  the  awful  suggestion,  "  Dead  men  tell  no 
tales." 

Though  it  meant  murder,  this  aroused  neither  fear  nor 
compunction.  A  few  hours  before  he  had  been  powerfully 
drawn  toward  God  and  happiness  and  heaven.     Now  he 


62  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

seemed  given  up  to  evil.  Three  days  and  nights  went  by, 
while  he  waited  his  opportunity.  It  came  at  last,  and 
Gardener's  hands  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  one  who 
had  trusted  him  as  a  friend. 

As  Mr.  Reed  described  that  last,  long  night,  when  at 
their  request  he  had  been  locked  up  with  this  man  and  five 
others  about  to  be  ushered  into  the  presence  of  God,  a  pro- 
found impression  was  made  on  many  a  listener  besides  young 
Hudson  Taylor.  Returning  to  Barnsley,  and  for  long  after, 
he  was  deeply  troubled  about  spiritual  things.  Amid  all 
his  waywardness  he  was  conscious  of  that  inward  pleading, 
"  My  son,  give  Me  thy  heart."  But  the  change  went  no 
further  while  he  remained  at  school. 

This  was  two  years  in  all,  a  period  that  transformed  the 
open-hearted  child  into  a  boy  of  thirteen  with  some  ex- 
perience of  the  harder  side  of  life.  His  education  had  made 
progress,  but  on  account  of  changes  in  the  school  that  were 
not  satisfactory  it  was  decided  he  should  leave.  His  father 
needed  assistance  in  the  shop,  and  Hudson  was  delighted 
to  be  earning  his  own  living,  in  part  at  any  rate,  while  carry- 
ing on  his  studies  at  home.  Thus  ended,  just  before  Christ- 
mas 1845,  his  first  and  only  experience  of  school-life. 

The  new  arrangement  worked  well.  In  his  white  apron 
behind  the  counter,  the  curly-headed  boy  with  his  bright 
face  and  pleasant  ways  soon  became  a  favourite  among  the 
customers.  He  was  keenly  interested  in  compounding  and 
dispensing  medicines  and  everything  to  do  with  doctor's 
work.  His  father's  library  afforded  all  the  books  he  required, 
and  in  the  helpful  companionships  of  home  the  troubles  of 
his  inner  life  began  to  pass  away. 

To  this  time  he  himself  attributed  ^  the  first  conscious 
surrender  of  his  heart  to  God.  A  leaflet  published  by  the 
Religious  Tract  Society  brought  him  blessing.  It  was  the 
story  of  a  poor,  half-witted  fellow  who  was  only  able  to  grasp 
one  great  truth,  but  rested  his  soul  upon  it  as  he  passed 
into  the  unseen. 

"  Yes,  Joseph  is  the  chief  of  sinners,"  he  kept  repeating. 
"  But  it  is  '  a  faithful  saying  '  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  great 

1  In  a  letter  given  on  page  102. 


THE  FINISHED  WORK  OF  CHRIST  63 

God  who  made  all  things,  '  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners.'     And  why  not  poor  Joseph  ?  " 

The  question  brought  its  own  answer. 

While  reading  this  little  tract,  the  simplicity  of  faith  was 
made  clear  to  him  as  never  before,  and  then  and  there  he 
took  the  sinner's  place  and  came  back  to  God. 

The  days  that  followed  were  quiet  and  happy.  He  was 
busy  with  his  lessons  and  work  in  the  shop,  and  resumed  the 
habits  of  prayer  and  Bible  study  in  which  he  had  been  trained 
from  childhood.  But  another  testing-time  awaited  him,  a 
further  experience  of  the  weakness  of  his  own  heart,  out  of 
which  he  was  to  be  brought  into  a  life  of  stedfast  dependence 
upon  the  Lord  for  keeping  as  well  as  saving  grace. 

For  though  real  and  true  as  far  as  it  went,  this  improve- 
ment in  his  spiritual  condition  was  more  or  less  evanescent. 
There  were  the  ups  and  downs  so  characteristic  of  childhood, 
and  from  the  point  of  view  of  later  years  he  seems  hardly  to 
have  considered  it  a  true  "  conversion  "  at  all.  At  any  rate 
it  did  not  stand  the  test  when,  a  little  later,  he  found  himself 
plunged  into  an  atmosphere  of  worldliness  and  unbelief. 

This  unlooked-for  experience  began  in  1847,  when  at 
fifteen  years  of  age  he  went  as  junior  clerk  into  one  of  the 
best  banks  in  Barnsley.  An  opening  having  occurred,  his 
father  was  anxious  that  he  should  avail  himself  of  it,  feeling 
that  whatever  the  future  might  bring  he  would  always  be 
thankful  for  a  thorough  business  training.  Out  of  many 
applicants  Hudson  was  chosen,  and  after  eighteen  months 
at  home  entered  with  high  hopes  upon  the  duties  of  his  new 
position. 

The  daily  routine  in  which  he  was  now  engaged  did 
undoubtedly  prove  of  value  in  preparing  him  for  responsi- 
bilities as  yet  unforeseen.  He  was  well  drilled  in  account- 
keeping  and  business  correspondence,  and  in  the  absolute 
necessity  for  promptness  and  accuracy  in  financial  matters. 
He  also  found  his  level  in  a  httle  corner  of  the  busy  world, 
and  learned  to  do  his  part  as  a  man  among  men.  But  he 
was  not  ready,  spiritually,  to  stand  alone.  Indeed  he  was 
not  standing  firm  in  Christ  at  all,  and  was  easily  carried 
away  by  the  ungodliness  of  those  around  him. 


64  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

For  most  of  his  new  associates  were  thoroughly  worldly. 
Sceptical  views  to  which  he  was  a  stranger  were  freely  dis- 
cussed among  them,  and  religion  seldom  spoken  of  without 
a  sneer.  To  add  to  these  dangers,  the  lad  came  under  the 
influence  of  an  older  clerk  who,  though  handsome  and 
popular,  was  anything  but  a  desirable  friend.  He  took 
every  occasion  to  laugh  at  what  he  called  Hudson's  "  old- 
fashioned  notions,"  and  did  all  he  could  to  make  him  as 
light-minded  as  himself. 

"  I  well  remember,"  Hudson  wrote  a  few  years  later,  "  how  I  used 
to  wish  for  money  and  a  fine  horse  and  house  w  hen  I  was  in  the  Bank. 
Then  my  whole  heart  was  set  on  this  world's  pleasures,  and  I  longed 
to  go  hunting  as  some  did  who  were  about  me.  What  a  mercy  that 
I  had  to  leave  that  place  !  " 

It  was  weary  work,  with  a  heart  set  on  this  world's 
pleasures,  to  try  to  keep  up  the  outward  forms  of  Christian 
life.  Yet  he  struggled  to  do  so  for  a  time.  "  Religious 
duties,"  however,  could  not  satisfy,  and  were  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  the  living  Christ.  He  longed  for  gaiety  and 
distraction  ;  ambitions  that  could  not  be  realised  made  him 
miserable,  and  the  sceptical  views  of  his  companions  for  a 
time  carried  him  away.  But  the  faithfulness  of  God  did 
not  fail. 

In  another  letter  he  wrote  of  this  period : 

I  began  to  set  too  great  a  value  on  the  things  of  this  world,  and  to 
neglect  private  prayer.  Religious  duties  became  irksome  to  me,  and 
I  fell  from  grace.  But  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  caused  my  eyesight 
to  fail,  and  I  had  to  leave  the  Bank. 

This  was  no  doubt  a  bitter  disappointment  to  the  lad 
himself  if  not  to  his  parents.  Overtime-work  by  gas-light 
had  brought  on  serious  inflammation  of  the  eyes.  Nothing 
seemed  to  relieve  them,  and  after  nine  months  at  book- 
keeping he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  position  and  return  to 
the  more  varied  duties  of  assistant  in  his  father's  shop. 

But  the  unhappy  state  into  which  he  had  fallen  continued 
long  after  he  left  the  bank.  His  sight  recovered  and  out- 
wardly all  went  well,  for  the  restraining  grace  of  God  kept 
him  from  open  evil.     But  inwardly  he  was  rebellious  and 


THE  FINISHED  WORK  OF  CHRIST  65 

fuU  of  unbelief.  At  times  he  knew  himself  to  be  in  "a 
sinful  and  dangerous  state  "  from  which  he  struggled  in  vain 
to  be  free.  At  other  times  he  tried  to  believe  that  his  friends 
in  the  bank  were  right,  and  there  really  was  no  God  and  no 
hereafter. 

There  is  something  deeply  touching  about  his  own 
reference  to  these  experiences,  revealing  as  it  does  the 
exercise  of  soul  through  which  an  apparently  careless  lad 
may  pass  unknown  to  those  around  him  : 

Often  had  I  tried  to  make  myself  a  Christian^  and  failing  of  course 
in  such  efforts,  I  began  to  think  that  for  some  reason  or  other  I  could 
not  be  saved,  and  that  the  best  I  could  do  was  to  take  my  fill  of  this 
world,  as  there  was  no  hope  for  me  beyond  the  grave.  While  in  this 
state  of  mind  I  came  in  contact  with  persons  holding  sceptical  and 
infidel  views,  and  quickly  accepted  their  teachings,  only  too  thankful 
for  some  hope  of  escape  from  the  doom  which  if  my  parents  were  right 
and  the  Bible  true  awaited  the  ungodly. 

He  had  certainly  travelled  far  in  those  difficult  years 
from  the  love  and  faith  of  childhood.  And  there  had  yet  to 
be  sad  revelations  of  his  own  heart  ere  he  was  to  know  that 
wonderful  rest  of  faith  into  which  he  was  privileged  to  lead 
so  many  others.  Meanwhile  the  unrest  deepened,  and  he 
began  to  prove  how  little  the  world  has  to  give  in  exchange 
for  the  presence  and  blessing  of  God. 

Needless  to  say,  this  state  of  things  marred  the  happiness 
of  home  and  overclouded  his  naturally  sunny  disposition. 
He  was  all  wrong,  and  his  parents  could  not  but  see  it. 
The  father  tried  to  help  him,  but  found  it  hard  to  be  patient 
with  the  phase  through  which  he  was  passing.  The  mother 
understood  him  better,  and  redoubled  her  tenderness  and 
prayers.  But  it  was  his  sister  Amelia,  now  thirteen  years 
of  age,  who  was  nearest  to  him  and  best  able  to  win  his 
confidence. 

To  her  he  could  speak  more  freely  than  to  grown-up 
people,  and  his  indifference  and  unhappiness  so  affected  her 
that  she  determined  to  pray  about  him  three  times  every 
day  until  he  was  really  converted.  This  she  did  for  some 
weeks,  going  alone  to  plead  with  God  for  the  salvation  of 
her  brother,  and  even  making  a  note  in  her  journal  that 


66  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

she  would  never  cease  to  pray  for  him  until  he  was  brought 
into  the  light,  and  that  she  beheved  her  petitions  would  be 
answered  before  long. 

Thus  wearied  by  failure,  harassed  by  doubt,  disappointed 
in  all  he  had  most  wished  to  do  and  be,  Hudson  Taylor  drew 
near  the  crisis  of  his  life,  held  by  the  faith  and  prayers  of  a 
few  loving  hearts  that  did  know  their  God. 

"  It  may  seem  strange,"  he  said  in  later  years,  "  but  I  have  often 
felt  thankful  for  this  time  of  scepticism.  The  inconsistencies  of 
Christian  people  who  while  professing  to  believe  the  Bible  were  yet 
content  to  live  just  as  they  would  if  there  were  no  such  book,  had  been 
one  of  the  strongest  arguments  of  my  sceptical  companions ;  and  I 
frequently  felt  at  that  time,  and  said,  that  if  I  pretended  to  believe 
the  Bible  I  would  at  any  rate  attempt  to  live  by  it,  putting  it  fairly 
to  the  test,  and  if  it  failed  to  prove  true  and  reliable,  would  throw  it 
overboard  altogether.  These  views  I  retained  when  the  Lord  was 
pleased  to  bring  me  to  Himself.  And  I  think  I  may  say  that  since 
then  I  have  put  God's  Word  to  the  test.  Certainly  it  has  never  failed 
me.  I  have  never  had  reason  to  regret  the  confidence  I  have  placed 
in  its  promises,  or  to  deplore  following  the  guidance  I  have  found  in 
its  directions. 

"  And  now  let  me  tell  you  how  God  answered  the  prayers  of  my 
mother  and  of  my  beloved  sister,now  Mrs.  Broomhall,formy  conversion. 

"  On  a  day  I  can  never  forget,  ...  my  dear  mother  being  absent 
from  home,  I  had  a  holiday,  and  in  the  afternoon  looked  through  my 
father's  library  to  find  some  book  with  which  to  while  away  the  un- 
occupied hours.  Nothing  attracting  me,  I  turned  over  a  basket  of 
pamphlets  and  selected  from  amongst  them  a  Gospel  tract  that  looked 
interesting,  saying  to  myself :  '  There  will  be  a  story  at  the  commence- 
ment and  a  sermon  or  moral  at  the  close.  I  will  take  the  former  and 
leave  the  latter  for  those  who  like  it.' 

"  I  sat  down  to  read  the  book  in  an  utterly  unconcerned  state  of 
mind,  believing  indeed  at  the  time  that  if  there  were  any  salvation  it 
was  not  for  me,  and  with  a  distinct  intention  to  put  away  the  tract  as 
soon  as  it  should  seem  prosy.  I  may  say  that  it  was  not  uncommon 
in  those  days  to  call  conversion  '  becoming  serious ' ;  and  judging  by 
the  faces  of  some  of  its  professors  it  appeared  to  be  a  very  serious 
matter  indeed  !  Would  it  not  be  well  if  the  people  of  God  had  always 
tell-tale  faces,  evincing  the  blessings  and  gladness  of  salvation  so 
clearly  that  unconverted  people  might  have  to  call  conversion  '  be- 
coming joyful '  instead  of  '  becoming  serious  '  ? 

"  Little  did  I  know  at  the  time  what  was  going  on  in  the  heart  of  my 


THE  FINISHED  WORK  OF  CHRIST  67 

dear  mother,  seventy  or  eighty  miles  away.  She  rose  from  the  dinner- 
table  that  afternoon  with  an  intense  yearning  for  the  conversion  of 
her  boy  ;  and  feeling  that,  absent  from  home  and  having  more  leisure 
than  she  could  otherwise  secure,  a  special  opportunity  was  afforded 
her  of  pleading  with  God  on  my  behalf.  She  went  to  her  room  and 
turned  the  key  in  the  door,  resolved  not  to  leave  the  spot  until  her 
prayers  were  answered.  Hour  after  hour  that  dear  mother  pleaded, 
until  at  length  she  could  pray  no  longer,  but  was  constrained  to  praise 
God  for  that  which  His  Spirit  taught  her  had  already  been  accom- 
plished, the  conversion  of  her  only  son. 

"  I  in  the  meantime  had  been  led  in  the  way  I  have  mentioned  to 
take  up  this  little  tract,  and  while  reading  it  was  struck  with  the 
phrase  :   '  The  finished  work  of  Christ.' 

"  '  Why  does  the  author  use  this  expression  ?  '  I  questioned,  *  Why 
not  say  the  atoning  or  propitiatory  work  of  Christ  ?  ' 

"  Immediately  the  words  '  It  is  finished  '  suggested  themselves  to 
my  mind. 

" '  What  was  finished  ?  ' 

"  And  I  at  once  replied,  *  A  full  and  perfect  atonement  and  satisfac- 
tion for  sin.  The  debt  was  paid  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only, 
but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.' 

"  Then  came  the  further  thought, '  If  the  whole  work  was  finished 
and  the  whole  debt  paid,  what  is  there  left  for  me  to  do  }  ' 

"  And  with  this  dawned  the  joyful  conviction,  as  light  was  flashed 
into  my  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  world 
to  be  done  but  to  fall  down  on  one's  knees  and  accepting  this  Saviour 
and  His  salvation  praise  Him  for  evermore. 

Nothing  either  great  or  small, 

Nothing,  sinner,  no  : 
Jesus  died  and  did  it  all, 

Long,  long  ago. 

'  It  is  finished, '  yes,  indeed, 
Finished  every  jot. 
Sinner,  this  is  all  you  need. 
Tell  me,  is  it  not  ? 

When  He  from  His  lofty  throne 

Stooped  to  do  and  die. 
Everything  was  fully  done — 

Listen  to  His  cry. 

Weary,  working,  burdened  one, 

Wherefore  toil  you  so  ? 
Cease  your  doing,  all  was  done. 

Long,  long  ago. 


68  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Cast  your  deadly  doing  down, 

Down  at  Jesus'  feet ; 
Stand  in  Him,  in  Him  alone. 

Gloriously  complete. 

"  Thus  while  my  dear  mother  was  praising  God  on  her  knees  in  her 
chamber,  I  was  praising  Him  in  the  old  warehouse  to  which  I  had  gone 
alone  to  read  at  my  leisure  this  little  book. 

''  Several  days  elapsed  ere  I  ventured  to  make  my  beloved  sister  the 
confidante  of  my  joy,  and  then  only  after  she  had  promised  not  to  tell 
any  one  of  my  soul-secret.  When  Mother  returned  a  fortnight  later 
I  was  the  first  to  meet  her  at  the  door  and  to  tell  her  I  had  such  glad 
news  to  give.  I  can  almost  feel  that  dear  mother's  arms  round  my 
neck  as  she  pressed  me  to  her  heart  and  said  : 

"  '  I  know,  my  boy.  I  have  been  rejoicing  for  a  fortnight  in  the 
glad  tidings  you  have  to  tell.' 

"  '  Why,'  I  asked  in  surprise,  '  has  Amelia  broken  her  promise  ? 
She  said  she  would  tell  no  one.' 

"  My  dear  mother  assured  me  that  it  was  not  from  any  human 
source  she  had  learned  the  tidings,  and  went  on  to  tell  the  incident 
mentioned  above.  You  will  agree  with  me  that  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  I  were  not  a  beUever  in  the  power  of  prayer. 

'-  Nor  was  this  all.  Some  time  after,  I  picked  up  a  pocket-book 
exactly  like  my  own,  and  thinking  it  was  mine,  opened  it.  The  lines 
that  caught  my  eye  were  an  entry  in  the  little  diar}^  belonging  to  my 
sister,  to  the  gffect  that  she  would  give  herself  daily  to  prayer  until 
God  should  answer  in  the  conversion  of  her  brother.  One  month 
later  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  turn  me  from  darkness  to  light. 

"  Brought  up  in  such  a  circle  and  saved  under  such  circumstances, 
it  was  perhaps  natural  that  from  the  commencement  of  my  Christian 
life  I  was  led  to  feel  that  the  promises  were  very  real,  and  that  prayer 
was  in  sober  matter  of  fact  transacting  business  with  God,  whether 
on  one's  own  behalf  or  on  the  behalf  of  those  for  whom  one  sought  His 
blessing." 


CHAPTER  VI 

HERE   AM   I  ;     5END   ME 

JuN-E  TO  CmasTMAS  1849.    Aet.  17, 

It  was  the  month  of  June  1849,  when  this  definite  appre- 
hension of  the  atoning  work  of  Christ  changed  the  whole 
of  life  for  Hudson  Taylor.  Hencefonvard  he  rejoiced  in 
conscious  acceptance  %'iith  God,  not  on  the  ground  of  any- 
thing he  could  do  or  be,  but  simply  because  of  what  the  Lord 
Jesus  is  and  has  done.  "  Not  I,  but  Christ,"  brought 
freedom,  joy  and  rest.  It  was  the  turning-point  in  his 
experience,  the  commencement  of  a  new  order  of  things 
that  httle  as  he  realised  it  at  the  time  meant  for  him — China. 

And  now  became  apparent  the  unspeakable  value  of 
earl}-  training  such  as  he  had  received,  and  years  of  steady 
discipline  in  a  Christian  home.  He  was  in  a  position  to 
make  rapid  progress.  The  Bible  was  no  strange  book  to 
him,  but  famihar  territory-,  a  land  of  promise  waiting  to  be 
possessed.  Prayer  was  no  unwonted  effort,  but  the  natural 
outgoing  of  a  heart  long  accustomed  to  turn  to  God.  There 
was  much  3''et  to  learn,  but  mercifully'  there  were  few  habits 
or  memories  of  e\dl  to  erase.  The  Holy  Spirit  had,  com- 
paratively, a  free  field  in  his  heart.  And  at  seventeen  years 
of  age,  all  hfe  was  yet  before  him  in  which  to  spend  and  be 
spent  for  the  Lord  he  loved. 

It  is  a  httle  difficult  at  this  point  to  determine  the  exact 
order  of  the  spiritual  experiences  that  follow.  They  were 
of  such  importance,  however,  in  the  hght  of  after-events, 
that  nothing  has  been  omitted,  and  it  vnH  readil}^  be  seen  how 
true  to  hfe  the  record  is  and  how  encouraging  to  other  far 
from  perfect  people. 

69 


70  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Very  manifest  for  one  thing  is  the  joy  that  overflowed 
those  summer  days,  as  Hudson  Taylor  reahsed  himself  to 
be  indeed  a  child  of  God.  He  was  happy.  He  found  it  a 
glad  hfe,  full  of  heart-rest  and  satisfaction.  For  "  the 
Spirit  Himself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are 
children  of  God."  And  the  sweetness  of  this  fellowship 
could  never  be  forgotten.  It  embraced  all  who  were  dearest 
to  him  on  earth.  For  he  found  that  being  right  with  God 
put  things  right  with  those  around  him.  It  restored  the 
happiness  of  home,  made  him  a  better  son  and  more  useful 
assistant  to  his  father,  and  deepened  especially  the  love  that 
bound  him  to  the  dear  sister  whose  prayers  for  him  had  been 
unfaiHng.  Well  may  we  doubt  the  reahty  of  any  blessing 
that  does  not  make  us  easier  to  get  on  with,  sweeter  and 
more  loving,  especially  to  those  at  home. 

Another  outcome  of  the  change  that  had  taken  place  was 
a  longing  every  true  child  of  God  must  know,  the  longing  to 
give  all  in  return  for  all  that  has  been  given.  In  the  spirit 
of  the  Hebrew  bondman  this  young  heart  cried  :  "I  love, 
I  love  my  Master,  I  will  not  go  out  free."  He  longed  for 
some  work  to  do  for  God,  some  service  that  might  prove  his 
gratitude,  some  suffering  even  that  might  bring  him  into 
deeper  fellowship  with  the  Lord  he  loved.  A  leisure  after- 
noon gave  opportunity  for  prayer,  and  with  this  desire  filhng 
his  heart  he  went  up  to  his  room  to  be  alone  with  God.  And 
there  in  a  special  way  the  Lord  met  him. 

"  Well  do  I  remember  that  occasion/'  he  wrote  long  after,  "  how 
in  the  gladness  of  my  heart  I  poured  out  my  soul  before  God,  and 
again  and  again  confessing  my  grateful  love  to  Him  who  had  done 
everything  for  me — who  had  saved  me  when  I  had  given  up  all  hope 
and  even  desire  for  salvation—  I  besought  Him  to  give  me  some  work 
for  Him,  as  an  outlet  for  love  and  gratitude  ;  some  self-denying  service, 
no  matter  what  it  might  be,  however  trying  or  however  trivial ;  some- 
thing with  which  He  would  be  pleased,  and  that  I  might  do  for  Him 
who  had  done  so  much  for  me.  Well  do  I  remember,  as  in  unreserved 
consecration  I  put  myself,  my  life,  my  friends,  my  all  upon  the  altar, 
the  deep  solemnity  that  came  over  my  soul  with  the  assurance  that 
my  offering  was  accepted.  The  presence  of  God  became  unutterably 
real  and  blessed,  and  I  well  remember  .  .  .  stretching  myself  on  the 
ground,  and  lying  there  before  Him  with  unspeakable  awe  and  un- 


HERE  AM  I ;    SEND  ME  71 

speakable  joy.  For  what  service  I  was  accepted  I  knew  not.  But  a 
deep  consciousness  that  I  was  not  my  own  took  possession  of  me, 
which  has  never  since  been  effaced." 

It  was  an  hour  that  left  its  mark  on  Hfe  ;  an  hour  in 
which  the  soul  began  to  apprehend  "  that  for  which  also  "  it 
"  was  apprehended  by  Christ  Jesus."  The  lad  who  closed 
his  door  that  day  to  be  alone  with  God  was  a  very  different 
being  from  the  lad  who  rejoined  the  family-circle  some  hours 
later.  A  purpose  and  a  power  possessed  him,  unknown 
before.  He  had  given  himself  to  God.  His  offering  had 
been  accepted.  And  though  he  knew  not  for  what  special 
service  the  Lord  had  need  of  him,  he  knew  that  he  was  no 
longer  his  own,  and  must  be  ready  for  the  call  whenever  it 
might  come. 

One  result  of  this  definite  consecration  was  that  he  began 
to  care  about  the  welfare  of  others.  Hitherto  he  had  been 
concerned  chiefly  with  his  own  growth  in  grace  ;  now  he 
must  be  about  his  Master's  business,  which  was  the  salvation 
of  those  around  him.  He  was  not  deterred  by  the  fact  that 
he  could  do  but  little,  nor  did  he  excuse  himself  on  the 
ground  of  unworthiness.  If  he  could  not  preach  or  lead  a 
class  as  yet,  he  could  at  any  rate  give  away  tracts  and  invite 
people  to  the  House  of  God.  Busy  from  morning  till  night 
in  the  shop,  it  was  not  easy  to  make  time  for  this  work. 
But  he  found  that  by  denying  himself  one  of  his  chief  pleasures 
on  Sunday,  he  could  gain  a  few  hours  just  when  people 
would  be  most  accessible.  The  enjoyment  that  had  to  be 
forgone  was  the  Sunday  evening  service  to  which  he  had 
been  accustomed  from  childhood.  But  much  as  he  loved 
those  helpful  seasons,  he  could  no  longer  be  satisfied  to  feed 
his  own  soul  continually  and  do  nothing  to  carry  the  Bread 
of  Life  to  the  perishing  around  him.  It  was  "  a  day  of 
good  tidings."  He  was  rejoicing  in  wealth  and  blessed- 
ness untold.  And  like  the  lepers  in  the  Syrian  camp,  he 
and  his  sister  Amelia  felt  as  they  talked  it  over,  "  we  do  not 
well  to  hold  our  peace." 

Instead  of  attending  chapel  therefore  on  Sunday  evenings, 
they  went  out  as  soon  as  tea  was  over  and  made  their  way 
to  the  poorest  parts  of  the  town.     In  Wilson's  Piece  behind 


72  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

their  own  home  and  Kingston  Place  toward  the  race-course, 
they  became  famiHar  figures,  passing  from  door  to  door 
with  bright  faces  and  kindly  words.  Tracts  were  handed 
to  all  who  would  receive  them,  and  the  message  of  salvation 
simply  given  as  opportunity  offered.  Even  the  poorest 
lodging-houses  were  not  passed  over.  And  though  it  cost 
an  effort  to  go  down  those  dark,  narrow  passages  into  the 
crowded  kitchens,  they  were  more  than  rewarded  by  a 
sense  of  His  approval  whose  they  were  and  whom  they 
sought  to  serve. 

But  joy  in  the  Lord  and  in  His  service  was  not  the  only 
experience  as  summer  passed  away.  There  were  also 
"  times  of  painful  deadness  of  soul  and  much  conflict." 
The  heart  that  had  so  gladly  accepted  the  finished  work  of 
an  all-sufficient  Saviour,  now  knew  what  it  was  to  be 
"  wearied  and  disappointed  in  its  struggles  with  sin." 
Somehow  there  seemed  a  gap  between  the  power  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  save  "  to  the  uttermost  "  and  the  needs  of 
everyday  life  in  shop  and  home.  He  found  himself  yielding 
to  temptation,  ease-loving,  self-indulgent,  and  often  dis- 
inclined for  private  prayer  and  study  of  the  Word  of  God. 
Nothing  can  have  been  more  real  than  his  consecration ; 
nothing  plainer  than  the  disappointment  that  followed 
when  he  discovered  his  inability  to  do  and  be  what  he  would. 
It  even  seemed  to  make  matters  worse  instead  of  better. 
For  things  that  before  would  not  have  troubled  him  were 
now  intolerable.  He  had  given  himself  to  God  without 
reserve,  longing  to  be  always  and  only  His.  And  yet  he 
could  not  maintain  that  attitude.  Coldness  of  heart  crept 
in,  forgetfulness,  indifference.  The  good  he  longed  to  do 
he  did  not,  and  the  evil  he  hated  too  often  had  the  mastery. 
He  did  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man,  but 
there  was  that  other  law  bringing  him  into  captivity  to  sin 
with  all  its  deadening  influences.  And  he  had  not  yet 
learned  to  cry  :  "  Thanks  be  to  God.  .  .  .  The  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death." 

At  such  times  two  courses  are  open  to  the  perplexed  and 
troubled  soul.     One  is  to  abandon  the  ideal,  and  gradually 


HERE  AM  I ;    SEND  ME  73 

sink  down  to  a  low-level  Christian  life  in  which  there  is 
neither  joy  nor  power.  The  other  is  just  to  go  on  with  the 
Lord,  and  because  of  His  "  exceeding  great  and  precious 
promises "  to  claim  complete  deliverance  not  from  the 
guilt  only,  but  also  from  the  mastery  of  sin  ;  just  to  go 
on  with  the  Lord,  trusting  His  strength  and  faithfulness 
to  pardon,  loose  and  cleanse,  to  sanctify  us  wholly,  and 
make  our  own  every  blessing  promised  in  the  eternal 
covenant. 

Nothing  less  than  this  could  satisfy  Hudson  Taylor. 
Conversion  with  him  had  been  no  easy-going  assent  of  the 
mind  to  an  abstract  creed.  No,  it  was  a  change  deep  and 
real.  The  cross  of  Christ  had  cut  him  off  for  ever  from  the 
old  life,  and  from  rest  in  anything  the  world  could  give. 
Nothing  could  satisfy  him  now  but  genuine  holiness,  un- 
broken fellowship  with  God  who  was  his  life,  his  all.  Hence 
times  of  spiritual  lethargy  and  indifference  were  alarming. 
Deadness  of  soul  was  painful  beyond  endurance.  He  could 
not  take  backsliding  easily.  Thank  God,  even  the  beginnings 
of  backsliding  were  worse  to  him  than  death. 

Moreover  he  recognised  that  he  was  saved  to  serve,  and 
that  a  work  was  waiting  for  which  a  life  of  inner  victory  and 
power  would  be  essential.  He  had  had  his  unsatisfactory 
experiences,  and  deeply  knew  how  little  a  man  has  for  others 
who  is  not  himself  walking  at  liberty  within.  During  his 
sceptical  days  he  had  seen  that  the  only  logical  position 
for  the  Christian  is  to  go  all  lengths  with  God.  He  had 
then  determined  to  throw  off  religion  altogether,  unless  it 
were  possible  to  obtain  in  actual  reality  the  promises  held 
out  to  simple  faith.  There  could  be  no  middle  course  for 
him.  If  his  life  were  to  be  of  any  use  to  God  or  man  he 
must  have  that  "  love  out  of  a  pure  heart  and  a  good  con- 
science and  faith  unfeigned  "  which  is  sanctification  indeed. 
This  was  the  only  power  to  make  even  the  most  whole- 
hearted consecration  practical  and  enduring. 

And  this  was  a  gift  from  above,  like  the  fire  that  fell  in 
answer  to  Elijah's  prayers  ;  the  supernatural.  Divine  re- 
sponse to  a  heart  that  having  laid  all  upon  the  altar  would 
not  be  denied  the  cleansing,  sanctifying  power. 


74  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  seeking  this  promised 
blessing  the  Bamsley  lad  should  have  times  of  conflict  and 
defeat.  In  comparing  his  experience  with  that  of  other 
men  of  God  one  is  surprised,  rather,  that  he  did  not  suffer 
more  from  the  opposition  and  assault  of  the  devil.  For  it 
was  nothing  less  than  full  dehverance  upon  which  he  had 
set  his  heart :  that  was  the  point — real  holiness,  and  daily 
victory  over  sin. 

The  conflict  lasted  all  through  the  autumn,  apparently, 
and  outward  circumstances  were  not  wanting  to  increase 
his  sense  of  failure  and  need.  For  September  brought  the 
first  break  in  the  family  circle,  when  Amelia  went  from 
home  to  complete  her  education,  and  her  place  was  taken 
by  a  lad  of  his  own  age  who  was  not  a  Christian.  At  Barton- 
on-Humber  their  mother's  sister,  Mrs.  Hodson,  had  an 
excellent  school  for  girls  and  received  a  few  resident  pupils 
under  her  own  roof.  Her  eldest  son,  John,  was  apprenticed 
to  his  uncle  in  Barnsley,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  cousins 
should  exchange  homes  for  the  time  being,  without  additional 
expense  to  either  family.  To  the  brother  and  sister  who 
had  never  been  parted  before  it  was  a  painful  separation, 
and  Amelia  was  hardly  more  lonely  during  those  first  few 
weeks  in  Barton  than  Hudson  was  in  the  old  home  without 
her.  The  cousin  who  shared  his  room,  though  bright  and 
attractive,  was  no  help  spiritually,  so  that  with  less  privacy 
for  prayer  and  Bible  study  Hudson  had  also  less  fellowship 
in  the  things  of  God.  There  was  more  provocation  to 
exuberance  of  spirits  in  the  presence  of  such  a  companion, 
and  more  tendency  to  friction  in  business  hours,  especially 
as  the  busy  season  drew  on.  With  all  his  excellent  qualities 
the  father  had  a  somewhat  hasty  spirit,  and  as  Hudson  grew 
to  manhood  it  was  a  disciphne  that  called  for  constant  grace. 
AU  this  combined  to  make  things  difficult,  until  early  in 
December  it  would  seem  a  crisis  was  reached. 

Outwardly  things  were  much  as  usual,  but  inwardly  he 
was  almost  driven  to  despair.  A  terrible  deadness  of  soul 
had  begun  to  steal  over  him.  Prayer  was  an  effort  and  the 
Bible  devoid  of  interest.  Christmas  was  close  at  hand  and 
business  correspondingly  pressing.    There  seemed  no  time 


HERE  AM  I ;    SEND  ME  75 

for  quiet  waiting  upon  God,  even  had  the  desire  been  present. 
But  it  was  not.  And  at  times  a  terrible  fear  assailed  him, 
that  he  was  drifting  he  knew  not  whither  and  might  "  fall 
away  from  grace,"  missing  the  purpose  of  God  for  his  life 
now,  if  not  hereafter. 

Just  how  and  when  he  was  recalled  from  this  dangerous 
state  does  not  appear,  but  there  are  indications  of  some 
providential  happenings  that  could  not  but  be  helpful. 
His  attention  was  arrested,  for  example,  by  an  article  in  the 
November  Wesleyan  Magazine,  setting  forth  in  glowing 
terms  the  very  experience  he  needed.  It  was  entitled  "  The 
Beauty  of  Holiness,"  and  quickened  again  the  longing  of  his 
heart  for  victory  over  self  and  sin.  Then,  in  the  Pitt  Street 
Chapel,^  a  mission  was  held  that  resulted  in  so  real  a  revival 
of  spiritual  blessing  that  within  a  few  days  more  than  a 
hundred  converts  were  gathered  in.  This  was  encourage- 
ment indeed,  and  Hudson  as  he  sought  to  lead  others  into 
blessing  found  himself  drawing  nearer  the  One  for  whom 
his  heart  longed  supremely  and  through  all.  And  finally  a 
definite  promise  from  the  Word  of  God  came  home  to  him 
with  power : 

I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean :  from 
all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new 
heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you  :  and 
I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you 
a  heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you 
to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments,  and  do  them.^ 

Sunday  morning  came,  December  2,  1849.  He  was  not 
able  to  go  out  as  usual,  and  was  glad  rather  than  otherwise 
of  the  cold  that  gave  him  time  to  be  quiet  and  alone.  The 
Lord  was  consciously  with  him,  and  yet  things  were  far  from 
right.  He  rejoiced  as  he  remembered  one  after  another 
entering  a  few  days  previously  into  the  rest  of  faith,  but 
mourned  his  own  inability  to  possess  to  the  full  his  possessions 
in  Christ.     His  thoughts  turned  naturally  to  the  beloved 

1  Three  years  before,  in  1846,  the  congregation  had  migrated  from  the 
old  Chapel  on  Pinfold  Hill  to  larger  premises.  The  new  building  on  Pitt 
Street  was  very  near  the  Methodist  Manse  in  which  the  Hudsons  had  hved. 

2  Ezekiel  xxxvi.  25-27. 


76  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

sister  far  away,  and  taking  up  his  pen  he  poured  out  his 
heart  to  her  in  the  following  simple,  earnest  letter. 

Barnsley,  December  2,  1849. 

My  dear  Sister — "  Grace  to  you  and  peace,  from  God  our  Father 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  :  "  Who  gave  Himself  for  our  sins,  that  He 
might  deliver  us  from  this  present  evil  world."  ..."  The  very  God 
of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly,  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit  and 
soul  and  body  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.    Faithful  is  He  that  calleth  you,  who  also  will  do  it." 

Pray  for  me,  dear  Amelia.  Thank  God,  I  feel  very  happy  in  His 
love,  but  I  am  so  unworthy  of  all  His  blessings.  I  so  often  give  way 
to  temptation.  I  am  apt  to  be  frothy  and  giddy,  and  I  sometimes 
yield  to  my  teasing  disposition.  Pray  for  me,  dear  Amelia,  pray  for 
me.  I  am  seeking  entire  sanctification.  Oh  that  the  Lord  would  take 
away  my  heart  of  stone  and  give  me  a  heart  of  flesh  !  Mr.  Simmons 
gave  us  our  tickets  last  Sunday.  The  verse  is  :  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean  "  (Ez.  xxxvi.  25,  etc.).  Oh 
that  I  could  take  hold  of  the  blessed  promises  of  God's  Holy  Word  ! 
My  heart  longs  for  this  perfect  holiness.  I  have  read  a  very  interesting 
paper  on  the  beauty  of  holiness  in  the  Wesleyan  Magazine  for 
November.    What  a  happy  state  it  must  be  ! 

Oh,  for  a  heart  to  praise  my  God  ! 

A  heart  from  sin  set  free  ; 
A  heart  that  always  feels  Thy  blood. 

So  freely  shed  for  me. 

A  heart  in  every  thought  renewed. 

And  full  of  love  divine ; 
Perfect,  and  right,  and  pure,  and  good, 

A  copy.  Lord,  of  Thine  ! 

Thy  nature,  gracious  Lord,  impart ; 

Come  quickly  from  above  ; 
Write  Thy  new  name  upon  my  heart. 

Thy  new,  best  name  of  Love. 

I  never  can  sufficiently  praise  God  for  all  His  mercies  to  me.  He 
has  striven  with  me  times  without  number,  and  I  have  resisted  Him. 
And  yet  after  all.  He  has  pardoned  all  my  sins.  The  earnest  desire 
of  my  heart  is  that  He  will  sanctify  me  wholly  and  make  me  useful 
in  His  cause. 

When  Mr.  Greenbury  was  here,  in  only  four  nights  the  names  of 
more  than  one  hundred  persons  were  taken  who  had  found  peace.  I 
went  to  the  prayer-meeting  on  Wednesday  night  after  shutting  up 
shop.    I  sat  in  the  free  seats  as  there  was  no  room  elsewhere,  and  asked 


HERE  AM  I ;    SEND  ME  ^^ 

several  to  go  to  the  penitent  form.  One  went.  He  told  of  it  after- 
wards in  the  Class  Susan  attends,  and  said  he  had  found  peace.  I 
was  very  thankful  to  hear  it.  It  shows  the  necessity  for  doing  all  the 
good  we  can.  I  went  again  on  Thursday  night,  after  eight  o'clock, 
and  got  a  place  on  the  pulpit  stairs.  There  was  no  standing  room  in 
either  pews  or  aisle.  I  took  down  the  names  of  those  who  found  the 
Lord.  On  Friday  John  and  I  were  both  there.  I  got  six  names  and 
addresses.  Mr.  Keeling  told  me  to  go  inside  the  communion  rail  to 
talk  to  the  inquirers  better.     Oh  we  had  a  gracious  time  of  it ! 

Our  cousin  John  is  deeply  impressed.  He  is  not  far  from  the 
Kingdom.  I  believe  he  would  have  gone  to  Class  with  me  if  I  had  been 
able  to  go  to-day.  I  have  been  so  poorly  that  I  have  not  been  out. 
But  the  Lord  has  been  with  me.  God  bless  you,  my  dear  sister.  I 
cannot  help  wishing  that  instead  of  a  slight  cold  I  had  some  sickness 
that  would  take  me  to  heaven.  For  though  to  me  to  live  is  Christ, 
still,  to  die  is  gain,  eternal  gain.  I  have  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  which  is  far,  far  better.  .  .  . 

We  all  unite  in  love  to  you. — Believe  me,  your  very  loving  brother, 

J.  H.  Taylor. 

That  night  upon  going  to  bed  he  was  deeply  troubled. 
His  soul  was  athirst  for  God,  and  yet  an  intense  realisation 
of  failure  and  un worthiness  almost  overwhelmed  him. 
"  Draw  nigh  to  God  and  He  will  draw  nigh  to  you  "  is  a 
promise  always  fulfilled  to  the  sincere  and  humble  spirit, 
but  how  often  the  vision  granted  calls  forth  the  cry,  "Woe  is 
me!  for  I  am  undone  ;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips." 

Nor  was  this  all. 

Absorbed  in  his  own  need  the  lad  was  longing  for  true 
holiness,  the  life  that  is  "  no  longer  I,  but  Christ  "  in  every- 
thing. The  Lord  with  wider  needs  in  view  was  seeking  him 
for  this,  but  not  for  this  only.  In  His  great  purposes  the 
time  had  come  when  the  Gospel  could  no  longer  be  withheld 
from  the  "  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth."  China  even  must 
be  opened,  and  its  most  distant  provinces  gladdened  with 
tidings  of  a  Saviour's  love.  There  it  lay  in  agelong  darkness, 
its  teeming  millions — a  quarter  of  the  human  race — living, 
dying  without  God.  It  was  of  China  the  Lord  was  thinking, 
may  we  not  say  it  reverently,  as  well  as  of  Hudson  Taylor. 
But  the  lad  was  not  ready  yet  to  hear  the  call,  "  Whom 
shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  "  The  work  of  the 
convicting  Spirit  must  go  deeper  ere  he  could  be  fully 


78  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

blessed  and  brought  into  harmony  with  the  mind  of  God. 
Thus  his  sense  of  sin  and  need  became  more  intense  as  he 
wrestled  for  the  deliverance  without  which  he  could  not, 
dared  not  go  on. 

What  was  it  that  kept  him  from  the  life  for  which  he 
longed  ?  What  was  the  secret  of  his  frequent  failure  and 
backsliding  in  heart  ?  Was  there  something  not  fully 
surrendered,  some  disobedience  or  unfaithfulness  to  light  ? 
Fervently  he  prayed  that  God  would  show  him  the  hindrance 
whatever  it  might  be,  and  enable  him  to  put  it  away.  He 
had  come  to  an  end  of  self,  to  a  place  where  only  God  could 
deliver,  where  he  must  have  His  succour,  His  enlightenment. 
His  aid.  It  was  a  life  and  death  matter.  Everything 
seemed  at  stake.  Like  one  of  old  he  was  constrained  to  cry, 
"  I  will  not  let  Thee  go  except  Thou  bless  me." 

And  then,  alone  upon  his  knees,  a  great  purpose  arose 
within  him.  If  only  God  would  work  on  his  behalf,  would 
break  the  power  of  sin  and  save  him,  spirit,  soul  and  body, 
for  time  and  for  eternity,  he  would  renounce  aU  earthly 
prospects  and  be  utterly  at  His  disposal.  He  would  go 
anywhere,  do  anything,  suffer  whatever  His  cause  might 
demand,  and  be  wholly  given  to  His  will  and  service.  This 
was  the  cry  of  his  heart ;  nothing  held  back — if  only  God 
would  deliver  him  and  keep  him  from  falling. 

Instinctively  we  pause  and  turn  aside  from  a  scene  so 
sacred.  The  place  is  holy  ground.  Of  what  transpired 
further  we  know  no  more,  save  for  a  few  lines  written  when 
occasion  required  it  in  the  following  year.  For  he  rarely 
referred  to  this  experience,  though  all  life  hved  it  out. 

"  Never  shall  I  forget,"  he  wrote,  "  the  feeling  that  came  over  me 
then.  Words  can  never  describe  it.  I  felt  I  was  in  the  presence  of 
God,  entering  into  covenant  with  the  Almighty.  I  felt  as  though  I 
wished  to  withdraw  my  promise,  but  could  not.  Something  seemed 
to  say  *  Your  prayer  is  answered,  your  conditions  are  accepted.'  And 
from  that  time  the  conviction  never  left  me  that  I  was  called  to  China." 

For  distinctly,  as  if  a  voice  had  spoken  it,  the  command 
was  given  :   "  Then  go  for  Me  to  China."  ^ 

^  This  is  stated  in  his  mother's  written  recollections. 


HERE  AM  I ;    SEND  ME  79 

Silently  as  the  sunrise  over  a  summer  sea  dawned  this 
new  day  upon  his  waiting  soul.  China  ?  Yes,  China. 
That  was  the  meaning  of  his  life — past,  present,  and  to 
come.  Away  beyond  himself,  outside  the  httle  world  of 
his  own  heart-experience,  lay  the  great,  waiting  world, 
those  for  whom  no  man  cared,  for  whom  Christ  died.  "  Then 
go  for  Me  to  China."  Your  prayer  is  answered  :  your  condi- 
tions are  accepted.  All  you  ask  and  more,  far  more,  shall 
be  given.  There  shall  be  deeper  knowledge  of  the  Lord  ; 
fellowship  in  His  sufferings.  His  death.  His  resurrection  ; 
a  life  of  inner  victory  and  power.  "  For  to  this  end  have  I 
appeared  unto  thee,  to  appoint  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness 
both  of  the  things  wherein  thou  hast  seen  me,  and  of  the 
things  wherein  I  will  appear  unto  thee  ;  delivering  thee  from 
the  people  and  from  the  Gentiles  unto  whom  now  I  send  thee, 
to  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  turn  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

A  Httle  slip  of  paper  tells  the  rest — all,  that  is,  that  can 
be  told  ;  a  brief  postscript  to  his  letter  written  that  very 
night,  the  outpouring  of  a  heart  so  full  that  it  must  overflow. 

Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me  shout  His 
praise  !  Glory  to  God,  my  dear  Amelia.  Christ  has  said  "  Seek  and 
ye  shall  find,"  and  praise  His  name.  He  has  revealed  Himself  to  me  in 
an  overflowing  manner.  He  has  cleansed  me  from  all  sin,  from  all 
my  idols.  He  has  given  me  a  new  heart.  Glory,  glory,  glory  to  His 
ever  blessed  Name  !  I  cannot  write  for  joy.  I  open  my  letter  to 
tell  you. 

Yes,  it  was  done.  From  that  day  onward  hfe  was  on 
another  plane.  The  Lord  had  met  him,  satisfied  his  soul, 
and  spoken  again  the  sweet,  compeUing  word  "  Follow  Me." 
Outwardly  it  was  manifest  that  a  great  change  had  come 
over  him. 

"  From  that  hour,"  the  mother  wrote,  "  his  mind  was  made  up. 
His  pursuits  and  studies  were  all  engaged  in  with  reference  to  this 
object,  and  whatever  difficulties  presented  themselves  his  purpose 
never  wavered." 

For  inwardly  there  was  a  deep  subjection  to  the  will  of 


80  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

God,  resting  upon  a  profound  and  unalterable  sense  of  what 
that  will  was  for  him.  And  with  this  came  new  purity  and 
power,  a  steady  growth  in  grace,  and  fulness  of  blessing 
that  carried  him  through  all  the  testing  and  preparation  of 
the  next  few  years, 

"  Faithful  is  He  that  calleth  you,  who  also  will  do  it." 

That  was  what  made  him  and  kept  him,  the  real  beginning 
of  his  walk  with  God  as  a  man  set  apart. 


PART  II 

PREPARATION   FOR  CHINA,   IN   BARNSLEY 
AND   IN   HULL 

1850-1852.     Aet.   17-20. 

Chap.    7. — The  New  Starting-point. 
„        8. — No  Good  Thing  will  He  Withhold. 
„        9. — That  I  may  Win  Christ. 
„      10. — From  Faith  to  Faith. 
„      II. — If  it  be  Thou,  Bid  me  Come. 


Christ  to  the  young  man  said  :   "  Yet  one  thing  more  ; 

If  thou  wouldst  perfect  be. 
Sell  all  thou  hast,  and  give  it  to  the  poor, 

And  come  and  follow  Me  !  " 

Within  this  temple  Christ  again,  unseen, 

Those  sacred  words  hath  said, 
And  His  invisible  hands  to-day  have  been 

Laid  on  a  young  man's  head. 

And  evermore  beside  him  on  his  way. 

The  unseen  Christ  shall  move. 
That  he  may  lean  upon  His  arm,  and  say, 

"  Dost  Thou,  dear  Lord,  approve  ?  " 

Beside  him  at  the  marriage-feast  shall  be. 

To  make  the  scene  more  fair  : 
Beside  him  in  the  dark  Gethsemane 

Of  pain  and  midnight  prayer. 

O  holy  trust  1  O  endless  sense  of  rest  I 

Like  the  beloved  John, 
To  lay  his  head  upon  his  Saviour's  breast, 

And  thus  to  journey  on  I 

Henry  W.  Longfellow. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT 
1850.     Aet.  17. 

Thus  closed  the  old  year  and  the  old  life,  and  with  the  dawn 
of  1850  came  a  new  beginning  of  things  for  Hudson  Taylor, 
He  was  seventeen  and  a  half  years  of  age,  and  employed 
as  we  have  seen  in  his  father's  shop.  Good  prospects  were 
opening  before  him  as  a  chemist,  and  the  powers  he  after- 
wards displayed  in  the  development  of  a  great  mission  would 
have  made  him  successful  in  this  or  any  other  line  of  business. 
But  now  all  was  changed.  A  work  of  which  he  knew  next 
to  nothing  claimed  him  ;  a  work  that  must  absorb  every 
energy  of  his  being,  and  might  require  the  sacrifice  of  hfe 
itself.  How  to  set  about  it  he  had  no  idea ;  how  even  to 
make  preparation  was  difficult  to  discover.  But  the  call 
of  God  had  come,  and  there  could  be  no  looking  back. 
Whatever  might  be  involved,  the  future  held  but  one  thing 
for  him — to  do  his  Master's  will  in  and  for  China. 

But  what  problems  faced  him  as  he  thought  of  it !  He, 
a  mere  lad,  a  chemist's  assistant  in  a  provincial  town,  what 
could  he  do  for  China  ?  Wrapped  in  the  proud  exclusiveness 
of  centuries,  there  it  lay,  that  mightiest  empire  of  the  East — 
vast  in  size  and  population,  shrouded  in  mystery,  fascinating, 
repellent ;  appalling  in  its  need,  inaccessible  in  its  seclusion. 
How  could  he  hope  to  forward  there  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  ?  "  Then  go  for  Me  to  China."  That  was 
definite  and  final.  So  he  began  at  once  to  pray  for  guidance 
and  to  learn  all  he  could  as  to  his  future  field. 

And  here  it  is  necessary  to  remind  ourselves  how  very 

83 


84  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

little  was  known  about  missionary  work  and  lands  even  so 
recently  as  the  middle  of  last  century.  China  especially 
was  terra  incognita.  True,  five  ports  had  been  opened  along 
the  coast  to  the  residence  of  foreigners/  and  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  for  nearly  forty  years  the  only  British 
Mission  at  work  in  that  land,  had  been  reinforced  by  several 
newly  organised  efforts.-  But  they  were  all  in  their  infancy  ; 
and  beyond  the  Treaty  Ports  practically  nothing  was  being 
attempted.  In  the  absence  of  definite  knowledge  about  the 
interior,  exaggerated  rumours  were  afloat.  The  wealth  and 
learning  of  the  people  and  the  wonders  of  their  ancient  civili- 
sation, as  reported  by  some  travellers,  were  only  exceeded 
by  the  cruelty  and  ignorance  enlarged  upon  by  others. 
But  travellers  of  any  kind  who  had  penetrated  beyond  the 
coast  were  few  and  far  between. 

Of  course,  no  one  familiar  with  the  far  East  was  to  be 
found  in  Barnsley.  The  circle  in  which  Hudson  Taylor  had 
been  brought  up  had  no  connections  there,  and  even  for 
books  upon  the  subject  he  hardly  knew  where  to  turn.  One 
friend  might  be  able  to  help  him,  and  that  was  Mr.  Whitworth, 
the  founder  and  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School,  who 
had  recently  become  connected  with  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society.  He  would  know  something  at  any  rate  about 
the  circulation  of  the  Bible  in  China,  and  might  possess  a 
copy  of  the  Chinese  Scriptures  in  whole  or  part.  So  to  Mr. 
Whitworth  he  went. 

The  visit  was  encouraging,  for  his  old  friend  was  able 
to  give  him  a  copy,  in  the  Mandarin  dialect,  of  the  writings 
of  St.  Luke.  This  was  a  treasure  indeed.  And  from  him 
too  he  may  have  heard  that  Medhurst's  standard  work  on 

1  The  Treaty  Ports  of  Canton,  Amoy,  Fuchow,  Ningpo  and  Shangh2ii, 
opened  by  the  Treaty  of  Nanking,  which  concluded  the  first  opium  war 
with  England,  in  1842. 

*  The  order  in  which  the  British  Societies  commenced  work  in  China, 
up  to  this  point,  is  as  follows  : 

1807.  The  London  Missionary  Society  ;  sending  Robert  Morrison  to 
Canton. 

After  the  Treaty  of  Nanking — 

1843.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

1844.  The  Church  Missionary  Society. 

1845.  The  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

1847.  The  English  Presbyterian  Mission,  whose  first  representative  was 
the  Rev.  WilUam  Bums ;   see  Part  V.,  Chaps.  XXV.-XXIX. 


THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT  85 

China  was  to  be  found  in  Barnsley,  in  the  hbrary  of  the' 
Congregational  minister. 

Moved  by  desires  he  could  not  put  into  words,  the  eager 
lad  called  upon  the  gentleman  in  question.  It  is  interesting 
to  have  his  own  account  of  the  visit,  accompanied  as  it  is 
with  a  glimpse  into  his  deeper  feelings  at  the  time  and  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  sought  to  prepare  for  the  future 
before  him. 

"  It  seemed  to  me  highly  probable/'  he  said  long  after,  "  that  the 
work  to  which  I  was  thus  called  might  cost  my  life.  China  was  not 
open  then  as  it  is  now.  Few  missionary  societies  had  representatives 
there,  and  few  books  on  the  subject  were  accessible  to  me.  I  learned, 
however,  that  a  minister  in  my  native  town  possessed  a  copy  of 
Medhurst's  China,  and  calling  upon  him  ventured  to  ask  a  loan  of  the 
book. 

"  This  he  kindly  granted,  inquiring  why  I  wished  to  read  it.  I  told 
him  that  God  had  called  me  to  spend  my  life  in  missionary  service  in 
that  land. 

"  '  And  how  do  you  propose  to  go  there  ?  '  he  inquired. 

"  I  answered  that  I  did  not  at  all  know ;  that  it  seemed  to  me  probable 
that  I  should  need  to  do  as  the  Twelve  and  the  Seventy  had  done  in 
Judea,  go  without  purse  or  scrip,  relying  on  Him  who  had  sent  me  to 
supply  all  my  need. 

"  Kindly  placing  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  the  minister  replied, '  Ah, 
my  boy,  as  you  grow  older  you  will  become  wiser  than  that.  Such  an 
idea  would  do  very  well  in  the  days  when  Christ  Himself  was  on  earth, 
but  not  now.' 

"  I  have  grown  older  since  then,  but  not  wiser.  I  am  more  and  more 
convinced  that  if  we  were  to  take  the  directions  of  our  Master  and  the 
assurance  He  gave  to  His  first  disciples  more  fully  as  our  guide,  we 
should  find  them  just  as  suited  to  our  times  as  to  those  in  which  they 
were  originally  given. 

"Medhurst's  book  on  China  emphasised  the  value  of  Medical  Missions 
there,  and  this  directed  my  attention  to  medical  studies  as  a  mode  of 
preparation. 

"  My  beloved  parents  neither  disapproved  nor  encouraged  my  desire 
to  engage  in  missionary  work.  They  advised  me,  with  such  convictions, 
to  use  all  the  means  in  my  power  to  develop  the  resources  of  body, 
mind  and  soul,  and  to  wait  prayerfully  upon  God,  quite  willing,  should 
He  show  me  that  I  was  mistaken,  to  follow  His  guidance,  or  to  go 
forward  if  in  due  time  He  should  open  the  way  to  missionary  service. 
The  importance  of  this  advice  I  have  since  had  occasion  to  prove.  I 
began  to  take  more  exercise  in  the  open  air  to  strengthen  my  general 


86  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

health.  My  feather  bed  was  soon  dispensed  with,  and  as  many  other 
comforts  as  possible,  in  order  to  prepare  for  a  rougher  sort  of  life.  I 
began  also  to  do  what  Christian  work  was  in  my  power,  in  the  way  of 
tract  distribution,  Sunday-school  teaching,  and  visiting  the  poor  and 
sick  as  opportunity  afforded."  ^ 

His  purpose  went  deep,  and  from  the  first  he  realised 
that  a  call  to  missionary  work  in  China  involved  the  begin- 
ning of  true  missionary-life  at  home.  "  A  voyage  across 
the  ocean,"  he  often  said  in  later  years,  "  does  not  make  any 
man  a  soul- winner."  So  to  humble,  loving  efforts  for  the 
good  of  those  around  him  he  gave  himself  with  renewed 
diligence,  and  especially  to  the  practice  of  his  life-calling  as 
"  a  fisher  of  men." 

Another  form  of  preparation  entered  upon  with  ardour 
was  the  study  of  Chinese,  that  formidable  task  requiring,  as 
Milne  put  it,  "  bodies  of  iron,  lungs  of  brass,  heads  of  oak, 
hands  of  spring-steel,  eyes  of  eagles,  hearts  of  apostles, 
memories  of  angels  and  lives  of  Methuselah."  ^  Courageous 
in  his  inexperience  Hudson  Taylor  set  to  work,  despite  the 
fact  that  he  had  neither  teacher  nor  books  with  the  excep- 
tion of  that  one  little  volume  of  the  writings  of  St  Luke.  A 
grammar  would  have  cost  no  less  than  four  guineas,  and  a 
dictionary  could  hardly  have  been  purchased  for  fifteen. 
Needless  to  say  he  had  neither.  But  hard  work  and  in- 
genuity accomplished  wonders,  as  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  within  a  few  weeks  he  and  the  cousin  who  was  with 
him  in  the  shop  had  found  out  the  meaning  of  over  five 
hundred  characters. 

"  The  method  we  pursue  is  as  follows,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister  on 
February  14.  "  We  find  a  short  verse  in  the  English  version,  and 
then  look  out  a  dozen  or  more  (also  in  English)  that  have  one  word 
in  common  with  it.  We  then  turn  up  the  first  verse  in  Chinese,  and 
search  through  all  the  others  for  some  character  in  common  that 
seems  to  stand  for  the  English  word.    This  we  write  down  on  a  slip 

1  Quoted  from  his  own  brief  but  well-known  Autobiography,  A  Retro- 
spect, from  which  extracts  have  already  been  made. 

2  The  Rev.  Wilham  Milne,  who  joined  Dr.  Morrison  in  1813.  A  man 
of  remarkable  Unguistic  gifts,  he  took  a  large  share  in  Morrison's  Uterary 
labours.  His  lamented  death  took  place  in  1822  ;  but  far  and  wide, 
wherever  Chinese  is  spoken,  Milne  is  at  work  to-day.  His  well-known 
dialogue  The  Two  Friends  is  circulated  still  by  tens  of  thousands,  and  is 
generally  regarded  as  "  the  most  popular  tract  in  China." 


THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT  87 

of  paper  as  its  probable  equivalent.  Then  we  look  all  through  the 
Chinese  Gospel  for  this  same  character  in  different  connections.  It 
occurs  as  a  rule  pretty  frequently.  And  if  in  every  case  we  find  the 
same  word  in  the  English  version,  we  copy  the  character  in  ink  into 
our  dictionary,  adding  the  meaning  in  pencil.  Afterwards,  if  further 
acquaintance  shows  it  to  be  the  true  meaning,  we  ink  that  over  also. 
At  first  we  made  slow  progress,  but  now  we  can  work  much  faster,  as 
with  few  exceptions  we  know  all  the  most  common  characters.  In  our 
dictionary  we  have  four  hundred  and  fifty-three  put  down  as  certain, 
and  many  others  that  are  not  fully  proved.  About  two  hundred  more 
we  know  as  certain  that  we  have  not  copied  into  the  dictionary  yet, 
and  many  besides  that  are  only  probable. 

"  I  have  begun  to  get  up  at  five  in  the  morning,"  he  continued, 
"  and  so  find  it  necessary  to  go  to  bed  early  at  night.  I  must  study  if 
I  mean  to  go  to  China.  I  am  fully  decided  to  go,  and  am  making  every 
preparation  I  can.  I  intend  to  rub  up  my  Latin,  to  learn  Greek  and 
the  rudiments  of  Hebrew,  and  to  get  as  much  general  information  as 
possible.     I  need  all  your  prayers." 

But  in  preparing  for  the  future  Hudson  Taylor  did  not 
neglect  present  opportunities.  With  his  practical  turn  of 
mind  he  saw  that  something  might  be  done  without  delay, 
even  in  Barnsley,  to  forward  the  cause  to  which  his  Hfe  was 
given.  Go  himself  he  could  not,  perhaps  for  years  to  come  ; 
but  he  was  none  the  less  responsible  here  and  now  for  the 
salvation  of  perishing  souls  in  China.  He  could  pray  and 
lead  others  to  pray,  give  and  encourage  others  in  giving. 
And  just  at  this  juncture  a  new  movement  set  on  foot  by 
Dr.  Gutzlaff  of  Hong-kong  came  to  his  knowledge  that 
seemed  to  afford  the  very  channel  needed. 

For  hitherto  he  had  hardly  known  how  to  communicate 
with  China.  Large  as  was  the  field,  the  Wesleyans  had  no 
mission  there.  Work  in  the  Treaty  Ports  was  being  carried 
on  by  other  societies  ;  but  even  then  Hudson  Taylor  longed 
after  the  unreached  interior — that  vast  waiting  world,  still 
destitute  of  the  Gospel.  If  only  some  one  were  seeking 
to  carry  the  Ught  farther  ajfield  1  But  every  way  seemed 
blocked.  Missionaries  were  restricted  to  the  coast-board 
provinces,  and  the  Chinese  Christians  were  so  few  and  far 
between  that  even  had  they  been  fitted  for  it  none  could 
be  spared  for  this  pioneering  work. 

What  was  the  joy  therefore  with  which  Hudson  Taylor 


88  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

learned  of  this  new  movement,  through  papers  lent  him  by 
Mr.  Whitworth,  and  that  a  society  had  been  organised  in 
London  to  do  the  very  work  on  which  his  heart  was  set. 
Interdenominational  in  character  "  The  Chinese  Associa- 
tion," as  it  was  called,  aimed  at  employing  native  evangehsts 
to  co-operate  with  any  existing  missions,  but  chiefly  with 
Dr.  Gutzlaff  of  Hong-kong  in  an  enterprise  that  bid  fair  to 
solve  the  problem  of  how  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  unreached 
interior.  Quite  a  number  were  already  working  under  his 
supervision,  and  great  was  the  success  that  seemed  to  attend 
their  efforts. 

Burning  with  love  to  Christ  and  zeal  for  the  advancement 
of  His  cause  Dr.  Gutzlaff  had  returned  from  Hong-kong  a 
few  months  previously,^  and  had  commenced  in  London  as 
a  starting-point  a  missionary  crusade  of  the  most  remarkable 
kind.  From  Ireland  to  Hungary  he  passed,  proclaiming  in 
all  the  leading  capitals  of  Europe  the  duty  of  the  Christian 
Church  toward  the  unevangelised  millions  of  China.  For 
the  first  time  the  need  and  claims  of  that  great  land  came 
home  to  many  a  heart,  with  the  result  that  multitudes  were 
on  their  knees  praying  as  never  before.  It  was  prayer  for 
which  Gutzlaff  primarily  appealed,  prayer  for  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  China  in  its  agelong  darkness. 
But  true  prayer,  potent  in  itself,  is  sure  to  bring  about 
practical  results,  and  in  this  case  quite  a  number  of  organised 
efforts  grew  up  in  London  and  on  the  Continent  that  resulted 
in  permanent  blessing. 

Gutzlaff's  piety  was  deep  and  real,  his  schemes  were 
large  and  his  optimism  unbounded.  He  was  a  man  of  un- 
usual gifts,  and  as  Interpreter  to  the  British  Government 
in  Hong-kong  occupied  a  position  of  influence.  So  great 
was  his  enthusiasm  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  that  he  had 
risked  his  life  repeatedly  in  daring  attempts  to  reach  the 
interior,  as  well  as  in  voyages  along  the  entire  coast. "^     With 

1  Dr.  Gutzlaff  reached  Europe  early  in  1850. 

2  Dr.  Gutzlaff,  wearing  Chinese  dress,  made  seven  journeys  during  the 
years  1831-35  along  the  Chinese  coast,  landing  at  places  even  as  far  north 
as  Tien-tsin,  and  risking  his  life  again  and  again  in  earnest  efforts  to  make 
known  the  Gospel.  Dr.  Medhurst,  at  the  request  of  the  L.M.S.,  made  a 
similar  journey  in  1835,  seven  years  before  the  opening  of  the  Treaty 
Ports. 


DR.    CHARLES    GUTZLAFF    IN    THE    DRESS    OF    A    FU-KIEX    SAILOR. 

The  devoted  missionary  often  referred  to  by  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor  as  "tlie  grand  fa  tlier  of 
the  China  luland  Mission." 

To  Jace  page  89. 


1 


THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT  89 

considerable  experience  as  a  sailor  he  even  engaged  himself 
as  mate  on  a  Chinese  junk,  and  at  another  time  as  cook,  in 
order  to  visit  places  to  which  no  foreign  vessels  sailed  and 
obtain  opportunities  for  making  known  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus, ^  Though  not  strictly  speaking  a  missionary,  he 
lived  for  one  thing  only — the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  To  this  he  devoted  his  large  salary,  his  remarkable 
powers  of  mind  and  body  and  all  his  available  time.  He 
wrote  and  published  eighty  works  in  no  fewer  than  eight 
different  languages,  including  a  translation  into  Chinese  of 
both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  He  founded  "  The 
Chinese  Union,"  a  native  missionary  society  whose  members 
were  to  carry  the  Gospel  far  and  wide  to  every  part  of  the 
eighteen  provinces,  and  he  awakened  Europe  one  may  almost 
say  with  enthusiasm  in  support  of  this  cause,  everywhere 
organising  prayer-meetings  and  associations  to  carry  on  the 
work.  The  new  society  in  London  was  one  of  these,  and 
immediately  claimed  the  sympathy  of  Hudson  Taylor, 

According  to  tabulated  reports  brought  home  by  Dr. 
Gutzlaff,  the  evangelists  of  "  The  Chinese  Union "  in- 
augurated six  years  previously  had  met  with  amazing 
encouragement.  They  now  numbered  a  hundred  and 
thirty  men,  engaged  in  systematic  preaching  throughout 
the  interior  and  in  the  distribution  of  Christian  literature. 
They  had  circulated  over  ten  thousand  New  Testaments, 
besides  many  Bibles  and  countless  books  and  tracts.  They 
wrote  long  and  detailed  letters  from  almost  all  the  provinces 
of  China,  telling  of  journeys  even  to  the  borders  of  Mongolia 
and  Tibet.  And  last  but  not  least,  they  had  baptized,  "upon 
examination  and  satisfactory  confession  of  their  faith," 
no  fewer  than  2871  converts.  Such  results,  within  so  short 
a  time,  could  not  but  arouse  the  deepest  interest. 

All  through  the  spring  and  summer  these  developments 
were  delighting  the  earnest  lad  in  Barnsley.  An  excellent 
magazine,  quite  above  the  average  of  religious  papers,  was 
commenced  in  March  of  this  year  to  supply  the  latest  tidings 
from  Dr.  Gutzlaff's  workers,  as  well  as  missionary  informa- 
tion from  other  parts  of  the  world.     Hudson  Taylor  took 

^  See  Ball's  China,  published  in  1854,  pp.  59,  60. 


90  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

it  in  from  the  first,  and  the  careful  study  with  which  he 
followed  it  for  years  formed  in  itself  a  valuable  education 
in  missionary  principles  and  practice.  From  its  pages  he 
learned  of  many  on  the  Continent  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain 
who  were  engaged  in  active  efforts  for  the  evangehsation 
of  China.  The  undertakings  represented  at  Barmen  and 
Cassel,  the  Pilgrim  Missionary  Institution  of  St.  Chrischona, 
John  Evangelist  Gossner  and  his  devoted  workers,  the 
Moravians  of  Herrnhut,  and  the  Missionary  Societies  of 
Basel  and  Berlin  all  became  famihar  to  him  as  the  months 
went  by.  It  informed  him  also  of  the  varied  labours  of 
George  MuUer  of  Bristol,  who  during  this  and  the  previous 
year  had  expended  more  than  £2500  on  missionary  work 
in  Roman  Catholic  and  heathen  lands.  This  well-directed 
magazine,  in  short,  was  used  of  God  to  introduce  Hudson 
Taylor  into  a  new  world  of  Christian  enterprise,  unsectarian 
in  its  character  and  international  in  its  interests,  preparing 
him  while  still  in  his  teens  for  the  far-reaching  associations 
of  coming  years. ^ 

By  means  of  The  Gleaner  also  he  was  enabled  to  follow 
the  operations  of  the  new  society  in  London.  Its  character 
so  impressed  him  that  he  ventured  after  a  time  upon  the 
following  letter,  httle  reahsing  to  how  much  its  modest 
overtures  would  lead. 

21  Cheapside,  Barnsley, 
July  29,  1850. 

To  Mr.  George  Pearse,  Secretary  of  the  Chinese  Association. 

Sir— Some  time  ago,  Mr.  Whitworth,  the  respected  Local  Treasurer 
of  the  Bible  Society,  directed  my  attention  to  the  Chinese  Association, 
as  advertised  in  The  Watchman,  and  in  The  Gleaner  in  the  Missionary 
Field  I  have  seen  several  notices  of  its  usefulness. 

Feeling  deeply  interested  in  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the 
Chinese,  and  having  determined  as  soon  as  Providence  shall  open  my 
way  to  devote  myself  to  that  extensive  and  almost  unbounded  field  of 
Christian  enterprise,  I  wish  during  the  interval  to  promote  the  work 

1  This  interesting  paper,  The  Gleaner  in  the  Missionary  Field,  seems  to 
have  been  edited  by  the  Secretaries  of  the  Chinese  Association,  or,  as 
it  was  afterwards  called,  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society.  Although 
no  names  are  given,  it  is  easy  to  recognise  Mr.  George  Pearse  of  the  London 
Stock  Exchange  as  well  as  Mr.  Richard  Ball  of  Taunton  in  many  of  its 
articles.  The  latter  was  a  man  of  hterary  gift  as  well  as  spiritual  insight, 
and  both  were  deeply  taught  in  the  Word  of  God. 


THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT  91 

as  much  as  possible.  I  have  therefore  taken  the  Hberty  of  addressing 
you  as  Secretary.  I  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  will  forward  at  your 
earliest  convenience  a  few  circulars  or  collecting  cards,  as  well  as  any 
information,  rules,  etc.,  calculated  to  assist  me  in  introducing  the 
work  to  my  friends. 

Praying  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  without  whose  blessing 
nothing  can  prosper,  greatly  to  forward  your  efforts, — I  remain,  Sir, 
yours  respectfully, 

James  H.  Taylor. 

But  reports  had  begun  to  reach  England  by  this  time  of 
the  doubtful  character  of  Dr.  Gutzlaff's  organisation,  and 
the  reply  from  Mr.  Pearse  was  evidently  discouraging. 
Further  developrrients  tended  only  to  confirm  the  fear  that, 
with  all  his  brilliant  gifts  and  rare  devotion,  Gutzlaff  sadly 
lacked  common  sense  and  that  "  discernment  of  spirits  "  so 
necessary  in  dealing  with  an  oriental  people.  In  a  word, 
he  had  been  systematically  swindled,  as  the  German  mission- 
ary acting  as  his  locum  tenens  in  Hong-kong  discovered. 
Few  of  his  so-called  evangelists  had  travelled  beyond  Canton, 
and  many  of  their  glowing  reports  had  been  concocted  in 
opium-dens  a  few  minutes  only  from  his  own  door.  It  was 
a  painful  and  almost  incredible  exposure,  and  no  one  suffered 
more  from  grief  and  disappointment  than  the  noble-minded 
leader,  who  did  not  long  survive  the  failure  of  his  work.^ 

And  yet — had  Gutzlaff  failed  ?  His  plans  miscarried 
grievously  and  his  projects  came  to  nothing.  But  prayer 
and  faith  cannot  fail.  More  perhaps  than  any  man  in  his 
day  he  had  seen  the  commanding  vision — China  won  for 
Christ — and  had  given  himself,  his  all,  to  bring  it  to  pass. 
"  God  buries  His  workmen,  but  carries  on  His  work." 
Gutzlaff  died  in  faith,  entering,  as  was  said  of  him,  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  with  the  millions  of  China  on  his  heart. 
And  the  aims  he  had  never  been  able  to  realise,  the  ideals 

1  Dr.  Gutzlaff  passed  away  at  Hong-kong  on  the  gth  of  August  1851, 
devotedly  labouring  among  the  Chinese  until  his  brief  but  fatal  illness 
came  on.     The  Gleaner  for  January  1852  supplied  the  following  details  : 

"  Even  in  his  last  hours,  all  his  thoughts  were  directed  to  the  evangehsa- 
tion  of  China.  He  spoke  of  it  with  great  confidence,  and  in  the  dehrium 
of  fever  frequently  expressed  bright  hopes  for  the  blessing  and  regeneration 
of  his  beloved  Sinim.  Truly  of  him  it  may  be  said  that  he  departed  this 
life  and  entered  the  presence  of  the  Lord  bearing  the  millions  of  China 
upon  his  heart." 


92  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

that  seemed  to  fail — of  a  native  agency  and  widespread 
evangelistic  work — fell  as  good  seed  into  other  hearts,  to 
bear  fruit  at  last  in  every  part  of  China. 

Long  years  after,  when  the  China  Inland  Mission  had 
become  a  fact  in  all  the  inland  provinces,  its  founder  loved 
to  refer  to  Dr.  Gutzlaff  as  in  a  very  real  sense  the  father  of 
the  work.  It  was  in  any  case  a  remarkable  providence  that 
brought  this  burning  spirit  with  his  prophetic  vision  across 
the  orbit  of  Hudson  Taylor's  life  just  at  this  time.  It 
could  not  but  be  that  he  was  disappointed  and  in  a  measure 
discouraged  by  the  turn  events  had  taken.  Among  the 
friends  and  supporters  of  Gutzlaff's  enterprise,  whose  interest 
had  been  aroused  chiefly  by  his  own  enthusiasm,  there  was 
naturally  a  swing  of  the  pendulum  in  the  other  direction 
when  these  disclosures  came  to  light.  A  strong  reaction 
set  in,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  whole  move- 
ment would  flicker  out  and  leave  no  permanent  results. 
But  those  whose  hearts  God  had  touched  felt  only  the 
more  responsible  for  the  enlightenment  of  a  people  so 
obviously  in  need  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  a  period  of  sifting 
that  revealed  the  true  character  of  many  in  the  homelands 
as  well  as  in  China.  But  out  of  it  all  grew  clearer  knowledge, 
stronger  faith,  and  a  few  undertakings  of  the  right  sort. 
Among  these  were  the  Moravian  Mission  to  Tibet,  with 
other  German  efforts,  and  in  London  the  work  with  which 
Mr.  Pearse  was  connected,  the  society  that  ultimately  sent 
Hudson  Taylor  to  Shanghai. 

And  lastly  Hudson  himself  came  out  of  it  by  the  grace 

of  God,  more  than  ever  determined  to  give  his  life  to  China. 

It  was  a  test  that  might  well  have  turned  back  one  whose 

"  call  "  depended  chiefly  on  emotion.    But,  as  the  following 

letter  shows,  it  only  stirred  the  Barnsley  lad  to  deeper 

earnestness  and  prayer,  and  served  to  teach  him  lessons 

of  inestimable  value. 

21  Cheapside,  Barnsley, 
August  7,  1850. 

To  Mr.  George  Pearse. 

Dear  Sir — I  write  to  acknowledge  your  kindness  in  answering  my 

note,  to  thank  you  for  the  Report  and  to  avail  myself  of  your  permission 

to  write  again  for  further  information. 


THE  NEW  STARTING-POINT  93 

I  think,  though  the  aspect  of  the  Institution  is  at  present  in  many 
respects  discouraging,  we  may  hope  for  better  days.  Notwithstanding 
that  the  character  of  the  Chinese  seems  very  unfavourable  for  the 
reception  of  the  Gospel,  we  have  the  promise  that  all  shall  know  Him, 
whom  to  know  is  life  eternal.  We  know  not  what  we  might  have 
been,  had  it  not  been  for  Christianity.  Christ  has  died  that  all  might 
turn,  repent  and  live.  We  who  do  know  the  advantage,  and  experience 
the  renovating  influence  of  religion  are  bound  to  propagate  the  Gospel 
among  all  peoples.  I  think  with  you  that  under  the  supervision  of 
European  and  American  missionaries  much  good  may  be  done  by 
native  agency. 

"  The  harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few."  We  cannot 
be  too  much  in  earnest  in  the  prosecution  of  this  great  work.  The 
missionaries  should  be  men  of  apostolic  zeal,  patience  and  endurance, 
willing  to  be  all  things  to  all  men.  May  the  Lord  raise  up  suitable 
instruments,  and  fit  me  for  this  work. 

On  Dr.  Gutzlafi's  return  to  China,  will  the  Institution  be  remodelled, 
or  can  further  frauds  be  prevented  in  any  way  .'*  Have  you  any 
collecting  books  or  cards  ?  If  you  will  kindly  forward  me  a  few,  or 
otherwise  authorise  me  to  collect,  I  will  endeavour  to  gather  a  few 
pounds  if  possible.  Apologising  for  troubling  you, — I  remain,  dear  Sir, 
yours  respectfully, 

J.  Hudson  Taylor. 

Thus  amid  all  the  discouragements  of  a  pecuHarly 
difficult  time,  we  see  his  stedfast  figure  pressing  on. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

NO   GOOD   THING   WILL   HE   WITHHOLD 

1850-1851.    Aet.  lyi-lQ. 

But  disappointment  in  the  work  was  not  the  only  thing  that 
came  to  test  the  reaHty  of  Hudson  Taylor's  call  to  China. 
Even  before  his  eyes  were  opened,  through  the  failure  of 
Gutzlaff's  plans,  to  the  darker  side  of  missionary  experience 
he  was  overtaken  by  trial  of  a  very  different  kind,  that  went 
with  him  through  long  months  and  years,  bringing  the 
strongest  influences  to  bear  against  unquestioning  obedience. 
It  was  a  test  of  faith,  a  call  to  sacrifice,  perhaps  the  hardest 
that  can  come  in  a  young  man's  life.  And  it  began  so  soon 
— with  that  same  Christmas  of  1849. 

For  then  it  was,  almost  immediately  after  he  had  come 
to  know  the  will  of  God  for  his  future,  that  a  counter- 
current  set  in,  as  powerful  as  it  was  unexpected.  He  had 
just  received  a  wonderful  baptism  of  love  and  power,  and 
was  entering  with  unreserved  consecration  upon  his  life- 
service.  And  at  that  very  point  the  tempter  met  him,  met 
him  with  suggestions  so  natural  and  attractive  that  it  seemed 
hardly  possible  they  could  be  contrary  to  the  mind  of  God. 
And  yet  those  suggestions  had  he  followed  them  would  have 
led  far  away  from  China  and  effectually  hindered  the  Lord's 
first,  best  plan  for  his  life. 

It  was  as  will  be  anticipated  a  question  of  "  falling  in 
love,"  seriously,  tremendously,  and  for  the  first  time.  But 
why  not  draw  a  veil  over  matters  so  intimate,  especially  if 
they  were  to  end  in  disappointment  ?  That  certainly 
would  be  the  easier  course  and  one  we  would  willingly  pursue 

94 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD       95 

but  for  the  constant  recurrence  of  the  same  danger  in  other 
lives.  For  many  a  young,  intending  missionary  has  made 
shipwreck  upon  the  rocks  that  threatened  Hudson  Taylor 
now,  and  it  may  be  that  his  experience  will  be  used  of  God 
to  safeguard  some  whose  peril  is  known  to  Him  alone. 

It  all  began  with  the  Christmas  holidays  and  an  ordinary 
friendship  arising  out  of  his  sister's  return  from  school. 
For  Amelia  did  not  come  alone.  The  young  music-teacher 
to  whom  she  had  become  much  attached  during  the  term 
accompanied  her,  and  added  not  a  little  to  the  brightness 
of  the  family-circle  that  already  included  their  cousin  from 
Barton-on-Humber. 

To  Hudson  and  his  sister  this  reunion  was  delightful 
after  their  first  long  parting,  and  many  were  the  hours  spent 
in  fellowship  and  prayer  such  as  only  young  hearts  know. 
To  no  one  else  could  he  speak  so  freely  of  the  things  that 
mattered  most,  and  there  was  much  to  talk  over  concerning 
his  new-found  joy  in  the  Lord  as  well  as  his  call  to  China, 
And  when  the  little  sister  discovered  that  some  one  else  was 
beginning  to  take  a  first  place  in  his  affections  she  rejoiced 
unselfishly.  Life  would  not  be  so  lonely  far  away  from 
home. 

But  Hudson  saw  difficulties  ahead.  True  it  had  not 
occurred  to  him  that  the  one  he  loved  might  be  quite  un- 
suited  for  the  life  he  hoped  to  live  in  China.  She  was  a 
Christian,  a  Methodist,  and  so  bright  and  gifted  that  he 
could  not  imagine  her  to  be  lacking  in  missionary  devotion. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  Miss  V.  was  decidedly  attractive,  and 
in  addition  to  some  musical  training  had  a  voice  so  sweet 
that  it  was  a  constant  pleasure  to  those  around  her.  She 
was  happy  among  her  new  friends,  and  interested  especially 
in  the  son  of  the  household.  But  while  sympathising  to  a 
certain  extent  with  his  feelings  about  China  there  was  a 
something  lacking,  and  she  would  gladly  have  held  him  back. 

This  of  course  he  did  not  realise,  or  if  he  felt  it  intangibly 
from  the  first  he  was  far  from  admitting  even  to  himself 
that  it  might  prove  a  serious  obstacle.  No,  the  difficulties 
he  felt,  and  felt  increasingly  as  time  passed  on,  arose  from 
the  uncertainties  of  his  position  and  his  lack  of  means, 


96  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

prospectively,  to  support  a  wife.  Had  there  been  any 
opening  before  him  he  might  have  had  more  hope.  But 
how  he  was  to  go  to  China  he  had  no  idea,  nor  how  he  would 
be  supported  there.  He  knew  of  no  society  that  sent  out 
unordained  men,  unless  perhaps  the  Chinese  Association, 
and  that  soon  came  into  such  low  water  financially  that  it 
seemed  doubtful  whether  it  could  continue  to  exist.  The 
collapse  of  Dr.  Gutzlaff's  enterprise  was  seriously  affecting 
missionary  interest  in  China.  On  the  whole  it  seemed 
more  than  likely  that  he  would  have  to  be  a  self-supporting 
missionary,  or  go  in  simple  faith,  trusting  the  Lord  who  sent 
him  to  provide.  But  that  precluded  any  thought  of  marriage, 
at  any  rate  for  a  long  time  to  come.  And  meanwhile  his  lips 
were  sealed.  Some  one  else  was  sure  to  love  her.  Every  one 
must  who  was  near  her  and  free  to  win  her  love.  No  one 
could  care  as  he  did  !  That  was  beyond  question.  And 
yet,  with  such  prospects  or  lack  of  prospects  before  him  he 
must  be  silent. 

This  was  the  ground,  then,  on  which  the  conflict  com- 
menced :  not  so  much  a  struggle  between  love  and  duty, 
though  it  came  to  that  at  last,  as  a  long  fight  of  faith  with 
questionings  and  fears.  "  No  good  thing  will  He  withhold." 
Would  it  prove  really  true  ?  Surely  his  heart's  desire  was 
a  good  thing  :  yet  how  was  it  to  be  accomplished  ?  Could 
he  leave  all  in  the  hands  of  God  and  simply  trust — nothing 
but  uncertainty  ahead  ? 

The  year  that  followed  was  full  of  perplexity  and  pain, 
in  the  midst  of  which  his  spiritual  life  was  deepening,  as  may 
be  seen  from  frequent  letters  to  his  sister  who  had  returned 
to  school. 

"  Dear  Amelia/'  he  wrote  in  September,  "  remember  me  in  all  your 
prayers.  Never  did  I  feel  a  greater  need  of  watchfulness  and  prayer 
than  at  present.  Praised  be  God,  I  know  that  the  blood  of  Jesus 
cleanses  from  all  sin  ;  but  I  feel  my  own  weakness,  my  own  nothing- 
ness. Without  His  aid  I  cannot  stand  for  one  moment ;  but  I  look 
to  the  Strong  for  strength  ;  and  though  he  that  trusteth  in  man  shall 
be  disappointed,  blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  the  Lord. 
I  realise  this  blessedness.  I  feel  that  I  can  trust  Him  with  all  my 
concerns.  I  can  and  do  '  praise  Him  for  all  that  is  past,  and  trust  Him 
for  all  that's  to  come.'    He  has  promised  to  withhold  '  no  good  thing  ' 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD       97 

from  those  that  walk  uprightly.    I  do  love  Him,  and  am  determined 
to  devote  myself,  body,  soul  and  spirit,  to  His  work. 

"  I  have  a  stronger  desire  than  ever  to  go  to  China.  That  land  is 
ever  in  my  thoughts.  Think  of  it — three  hundred  and  sixty  million 
souls,  without  God  or  hope  in  the  world  !  Think  of  more  than  twelve 
millions  of  our  fellow-creatures  dying  every  year  without  any  of  the 
consolations  of  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  Barnsley  including  the  Common  has 
only  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants.  Imagine  what  it  would  be  if  all 
these  were  to  die  in  twelve  months  !  Yet  in  China  hundreds  are  dying, 
year  by  year,  for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  Barnsley.  Poor, 
neglected  China  !  Scarcely  any  one  cares  about  it.  And  that  immense 
country,  containing  nearly  a  fourth  of  the  human  race,  is  left  in 
ignorance  and  darkness. 

Shall  we  whose  souls  are  lighted 

With  wisdom  from  on  high  ; 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted 

The  lamp  of  Life  deny  ?  .  .  . 

"  Pray  for  me,  dear  Amelia,  that  I  may  have  more  of  the  mind  of 
Christ ;  that  I  may  be  guided  in  all  things  by  His  Spirit  and  made  very 
useful.  Pray  for  the  cause  of  God  and  expect  an  answer.  Pray  on 
for  China.  .  .  . 

"  You  say  '  let  us  leave  all  in  the  hands  of  God.'  You  are  right. 
'  The  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  shield  :  the  Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory : 
no  good  thing  will  He  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly.'  But 
remember  His  own  word, '  I  will  yet  for  this  be  enquired  of  by  the  house 
of  Israel  to  do  it  for  them.'  Make  it  a  matter  of  prayer,  Love,  and 
then  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  God  our  Father.  I  have  prayed  about 
it,  and  I  am  sure  I  can  trust  God.  He  will  do  all  things  well.  God 
knows  what  is  best,  and  we  must  learn  to  welcome  His  will,  which  is 
'  good,  acceptable  and  perfect.'  " 

He  was  very  busy  at  this  time,  rising  early  every  morning 
for  study.  Latin,  Greek,  theology  and  medicine  occupied 
every  available  moment  even  during  business  hours,  and 
Sunday  brought  opportunities  of  ministry  to  others.  Sharing 
a  room  with  his  cousin  made  it  difficult  to  obtain  much 
privacy,  but 

"  I  go  into  the  warehouse,  stable,  or  anywhere,"  he  wrote,  "  to  be 
alone  with  God.  And  some  most  precious  seasons  I  have.  ...  Do 
your  best  to  keep  hold  of  Jesus.  And  if  in  an  unguarded  moment 
you  should  fall,  humble  yourself  before  God.  '  If  we  confess  our  sins. 
He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
unrighteousness.'    We  cannot  be  perfect  as  angels  who  have  never 

H 


98  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

sinned,  nor  as  Adam  before  he  fell.  Sin  always  has  had  and  always 
will  have  a  power  over  us,  if  we  look  not  to  the  Lord  for  strength.  Yet, 
though  we  are  vile  in  ourselves,  we  may  be  made  '  pure  in  heart ' 
through  the  all-prevailing  blood  of  Jesus.  Washed  in  His  blood  we 
are  even  now  '  whiter  than  snow.'  But  it  must  be  constant  washing. 
Grace  we  every  moment  need.  Oh  seek  this  grace,  strive  for  it,  and 
may  God  bless  you  with  '  a  pure  heart '  for  Christ's  sake." 

As  the  unstudied  correspondence  of  a  lad  of  only  eighteen 
with  a  sister  several  years  younger  the  above  quotations 
have  a  special  interest,  and  so  also  has  the  following  letter 
bearing  more  directly  upon  the  matter  that  was  exercising 
his  heart. 

Barnsley,  Nov.  ii,  1850. 
My  dear  Amelia — I  have  to  write  to  you  at  sundry  times  and  in 
divers  places,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little.  .  .  . 

In  your  last  note  you  suggest  that  it  might  be  a  good  plan  to  write 
to  the  Chinese  Association  and  ask  whether  they  could  send  me  out 
as  a  married  man.  You  must  excuse  my  differing  from  you  in  opinion. 
I  think  that  to  do  so  would  be  to  effectually  prevent  them.  They 
would  naturally  conclude  that  I  wanted  to  get  married  without  means, 
and  that  I  hoped  they  would  insure  me  from  the  consequences  of  such 
conduct.     It  would  not  do  to  write  to  them  at  all  at  present. 

I  have  not,  as  you  know,  the  slightest  idea  how  I  shall  go.  But 
this  I  know,  I  shall  go,  either  alone  or  married.  ...  I  know  God  has 
called  me  to  the  work,  and  He  will  provide  the  means.  But  as  you 
see  I  cannot  send  the  information  you  desire.  It  is  not  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  Miss  V.  would  be  willing  to  go  and  starve  in  a  foreign 
land.  I  am  sure  I  love  her  too  well  to  wish  her  to  do  so.  .  .  .  You 
well  know  I  have  nothing,  and  nothing  (financially)  to  hope  for.  Con- 
sequently I  can  enter  into  no  engagement  under  present  circumstances. 
I  cannot  deny  that  these  things  make  me  very  sad.  But  my  Father 
knows  what  is  best.  "  No  good  thing  will  He  withhold."  I  must  Uve 
by  faith,  hang  on  by  faith,  simple  faith,  and  He  will  do  all  things  well. 
Think  not  I  am  cold  or  indifferent.  But  what  can  I  do  ?  I  know 
I  love  her.  To  go  without  her  would  make  the  world  a  blank.  But 
I  cannot  bring  her  to  want.  Oh,  pray  for  me  !  It  is  enough  to  dis- 
tract me.    May  God  bless  and  enable  me  to  trust  Him  fully. 

Through  waves,  and  clouds,  and  storms, 

He  gently  clears  thy  way  : 
Wait  thou  His  time,  so  shall  this  night 

Soon  end  in  joyous  day. 

I  trust  it  will  be  so  :  God  grant  it  may  ! 

You  say  you  are  sure  I  might  win  her  if  I  could  see  my  way  to 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD       99 

provide  for  her.  But  you  see  I  cannot.  And  if  I  could,  how  do  you 
know  that  I  might  have  her  ?  Do  let  me  know,  for  I  am  so  anxious 
about  it.  You  say  I  should  ensure  this  best  by  being  sent  out.  Very 
true.  But  who  is  to  send  me  ?  The  Wesleyans  have  no  station  in 
China.  .  .  .  The  Established  Church  have  one  or  two,  but  I  am  not 
a  Churchman  .  .  .  and  would  not  do  for  them.  The  Baptists  and 
Independents  have  stations  there,  but  I  do  not  hold  their  views. 
The  Chinese  Association  is  very  low  in  funds.  So  God  and  God  alone 
is  my  hope,  and  I  need  no  other. 

Except  the  Lord  conduct  the  plan, 
The  best-concerted  schemes  are  vain 
And  never  can  succeed. 

With  you  I  could  wish,  were  it  possible,  that  the  matter  should  be 
decided  at  Christmas.  But  what  reason  have  you  for  thinking  it 
might  if  circumstances  were  favourable  ?  Do  you  suppose  she  thinks 
or  knows  that  I  love  her  ?  Or  does  she,  think  you,  care  about  me  ? 
Do  answer  these  questions  plainly. — Your  affectionate  brother, 

J.  H.  Taylor. 

A  reply  seems  to  have  come  from  his  sister  that  perplexed 
while  it  encouraged  him. 

"  I  wonder  how  often  I  have  read  and  reread  your  letters,"  he  wrote 
a  fortnight  later,  "  especially  the  last.  As  I  do  so,  my  mind  is  filled 
with  conflicting  hopes  and  fears.  But  I  am  determined  to  trust  in 
God." 

Thus  winter  passed  slowly  by,  and  with  early  spring 
came  a  first  step  toward  China.  It  was  now  more  than  a 
year  since  the  purpose  of  God  had  been  made  known  to  him, 
and  he  felt  the  time  had  come  for  more  definite  preparation 
for  his  hfe-work.  Five  years  in  his  father's  business  had 
made  him  quite  at  home  in  dispensing  medicines  and  even 
prescribing  for  ordinary  ailments.  He  needed  still  to  earn 
his  own  living,  but  felt  that  as  assistant  to  a  doctor  in  good 
practice  he  might  at  the  same  time  make  progress  with  his 
medical  studies.  It  seemed  but  a  small  step  in  the  direction 
desired,  but  it  was  all  that  was  open  to  him,  and  the  Lord 
would  guide  as  to  what  was  to  follow. 

"  I  am  determined,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  "  to  be  more  than  ever 
His,  and  to  redouble  my  diligence  to  make  my  calling  and  election 
sure.    Continue  tP  pray  for  E.    Pray  in  faith  and  leave  the  results 


100  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

with  God.  .  .  .  I  am  determined  not  to  waste  time  any  more  in  writing 
letters  as  I  have  done,  but  to  endeavour  in  all  things  to  be  about  my 
Master's  work.  May  He  help  me.  .  .  .  It  is  my  desire  in  all  my  ways 
to  acknowledge  Him  :  and  He  shall  direct  my  path. 

"  Now  that  I  have  decided  to  leave  home,  I  want  you  to  ask  that  the 
Lord  will  guide  me  into  a  suitable  situation,  where  I  may  get  and  do 
good  and  become  fitted  for  China,  .  .  ." 

Shortly  after  this  he  had  occasion  to  write  again  to  Mr. 
Pearse  in  London.  The  letter  is  worth  quoting,  as  illustrat- 
ing his  careful  attention  to  detail,  and  sense  of  stewardship 
in  connection  with  money  given  for  the  Lord's  work,  even 
the  smallest  sums. 

21  Cheapside,  Barnsley, 
March  31,  1851. 

Mr.  George  Pearse. 

Dear  Sir— You  will  almost  think  I  have  forgotten  the  Chinese 
Union  and  have  not  its  interests  at  heart,  on  account  of  my  long  silence. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  case,  although  from  pressure  of  business  I  have 
not  been  able  to  devote  to  it  the  attention  it  deserves.  I  have  collected 
rather  more  than  two  pounds.  Please  send  me  word  as  to  how  I  shall 
remit  this  sum  to  you.  If  I  send  a  post  office  order  it  will  cost  six- 
pence ;  but  I  can  get  it  placed  to  your  credit  at  Glynn  &  Co.  or  any 
other  London  banker's  for  two  or  three  pence.  Meanwhile  I  will  do 
all  in  my  power  to  get  a  few  more  subscribers,  as  the  interests  of  China, 
lie  very  near  my  heart.  May  I  be  fitted  to  engage  in  this  great  work. 
Please  excuse  haste,  and — Believe  me,  yours  in  our  Risen  Lord, 

J.  H.  Taylor. 

Had  Mr.  Pearse  replied  that  the  money  might  be  sent 
by  post  office  order,  as  the  difference  of  two  or  three  pence 
was  a  small  matter,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  would  have 
heard  much  more  from  Hudson  Taylor.  To  him  every 
penny  was  a  trust  to  be  used  for  his  Master.  "  A  httle 
thing  is  a  little  thing,"  he  often  quoted  in  later  life,  "  but 
faithfulness  in  Uttle  things  is  a  great  thing."  Mr.  Pearse, 
however,  appreciated  his  inquiry,  and  wrote  mentioning  a 
bank  through  which  the  money  might  be  forwarded  ;  to 
which  the  Barnsley  lad  replied — 

...  I  have  paid  through  our  Bankers  £2  :  5  to  your  credit  at  Messrs. 
Jones,  Lloyd  &  Co.,  Lothbury,  according  to  your  directions,  and 
you  will  receive  it  on  Monday.  Please  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
this  sum,  that  I  may  be  able  to  show  the  subscribers  that  it  has  been 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD        loi 

remitted.  Have  you  a  Report,  or  any  other  publication  telling  of 
the  work  done  by  your  Society,  and  how  the  funds  are  applied  ?  .  .  .  I 
enclose  a  list  of  the  contributors.  The  amounts  are  small,  but  I  have 
no  doubt  that  when  more  is  known  about  the  Society  and  its  operations 
I  shall  be  able  to  collect  more. 

The  field  truly  is  great,  and  the  means  at  present  employed  for  its 
cultivation  appear  very  inadequate.  But  ...  it  is  "  not  by  might 
nor  by  power  "  but  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  that  good 
can  be  accomplished,  and  God  often  makes  the  weak  things  of  this 
world  to  confound  the  mighty.  He  and  He  only  can  raise  up  and 
qualify  suitable  labourers  and  own  and  bless  those  already  on  the 
field.  .  .  . 

I  have  devoted  myself  to  missionary  work  in  China  in  obedience 
I  believe  to  His  call,  and  am  at  present  studying  medicine  and  surgery 
that  I  may  have  more  opportunities  of  usefulness  and  perhaps  be  able 
to  support  myself  when  there.  This,  however,  I  leave  in  His  hands, 
believing  that  if  I  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness 
all  these  things  shall  be  "  added  "  according  to  His  promise. 

Any  suggestions  you  may  be  able  to  give  me  as  to  means  for  pro- 
moting the  cause  or  fitting  myself  for  more  extensive  usefulness  would 
be  thankfully  received  by — Yours  in  our  Risen  Lord, 

J.  H.  Taylor. 

Mr.  Pearse  was  evidently  interested.  He  seems  to  have 
consulted  his  Committee  and  to  have  written  intimating 
that  the  Society  might  be  willing  to  help  in  the  expense  of 
a  medical  education  if  they  considered  Mr.  Taylor  a  suitable 
candidate  for  China.  This  letter  with  its  inquiries  as  to 
his  religious  views,  education,  etc.,  called  forth  the  following 
reply.  Though  long,  it  is  given  in  full,  as  manifesting  the 
spirit  that  actuated  the  young  intending  missionary,  a  spirit 
at  once  appreciative,  dignified,  independent  and  humble. 

21  Cheapside,  Barnsley, 
April  25,  1851. 
To  George  Pearse,  Esq.,  Hackney. 

Dear  Sir — I  have  not  been  able  hitherto,  from  press  of  business, 
to  answer  your  kind  favours  of  the  17th  and  21st  inst.,  and  am  sorry 
that,  in  haste,  I  neglected  to  enclose  the  list  of  contributors.  Here- 
with you  will  receive  it. 

I  feel  obliged  to  you  for  mentioning  the  work  on  China,  which  I 
shall  endeavour  to  procure ;  and  am  grateful  to  your  Committee  for 
their  kindness  in  promising  access  to  a  London  hospital  and  lectures. 
I  fear,  however,  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  these  privi- 
leges, as  I  have  no  means  of  supporting  myself  in  London,  and  may 


102  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

not  be  able  to  obtain  a  situation  there  that  would  allow  sufficient  time 
to  make  use  of  them. 

I  have  for  some  time  past  been  looking  out  for  employment  in  a 
Surgery,  as  I  think  that  would  afford  better  opportunities  than  I  at 
present  enjoy  for  acquiring  medical  and  surgical  knowledge.  My 
present  position  is  perhaps  as  favourable  as  most  with  regard  to 
opportunities  for  self-improvement.  It  consists  chiefly  in  prescribing 
and  dispensing,  and  we  have  the  privilege  of  reading  during  business 
hours  if  all  the  work  is  done.  But  the  number  of  anatomical  and 
similar  works  that  I  have  access  to  is  limited,  and  their  price  is  very 
high,  placing  many  altogether  beyond  my  reach.  So  that  apart  from 
the  benefit  to  be  gained  from  practical  surgery,  the  acquirement  of  the 
theory  would  be  facihtated  by  the  situation  I  am  seeking. 

As  you  are  so  kind  as  to  interest  yourself  in  my  case,  I  may  now 
perhaps  state  the  reasons  that  make  me  think  myself  called  to  the 
work  of  evangelisation  in  China. 

From  my  earliest  childhood  I  have  felt  the  strivings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age  I  gave  my  heart  to  God. 
About  six  months  after  that  time  I  went  into  a  bank  as  clerk,  and 
remained  about  nine  months,  when  I  had  to  leave  on  account  of  my 
sight,  which  was  injured  through  much  writing  by  gas-light.  The 
others  in  the  bank  were  worldly  men,  and  religion  was  seldom  spoken 
of  without  a  sneer.  I  began  to  place  too  great  a  value  on  the  things 
of  this  world  and  to  neglect  private  prayer.  Religious  duties  became 
irksome  to  me  and  I  fell  from  grace.  But  God  in  His  infinite  mercy 
caused  my  eyes  to  fail,  and  I  was  obliged  to  leave. 

I  continued  in  a  state  of  religious  unconcern  until  June  1849,  when 
God  was  pleased  to  strike  home  a  conviction  of  my  sinful  and  dangerous 
state  while  I  was  reading  a  tract  accidentally  left  by  a  friend.  I  have 
not  the  slightest  doubt  but  that  this  was  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
my  parents,  and  of  my  sister,  who  had  even  made  a  memorandum  a 
month  or  two  previously  to  the  effect  that  she  would  never  cease 
praying  for  me  until  I  was  saved,  and  that  she  believed  her  prayers 
would  be  answered  before  long.  I  thank  God  that  through  His  grace 
I  was  enabled  to  resolve  never  to  rest  until  I  found  peace  with  Him 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Shortly  afterwards  it  pleased  Him 
again  to  cause  His  face  to  shine  upon  me,  and  I  was  enabled  by  faith 
to  realise  the  merit  of  His  atonement. 

About  Christmas  1849,  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  say,  that  notwith- 
standing all  the  love  the  Saviour  had  manifested  to  me,  I  began  to 
slacken  in  my  closet  duties.  A  spiritual  lethargy  seemed  to  have 
crept  over  me.  I  did  not  enjoy  communion  with  God  as  heretofore, 
and  felt  something  was  wrong,  so  wrong  that  I  feared  I  might  fall 
away  from  grace  and  be  finally  lost.  Earnestly  I  cried  to  God  to  show 
me  the  hindrance  and  take  it  away,  promising  Him,  if  He  would  only 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD        103 

save  me  completely,  that  I  would  do  anything  in  His  cause  He  might 
direct. 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  feeling  that  came  over  me  then.  Words 
can  never  describe  it.  I  felt  that  I  was  in  the  very  presence  of  God, 
entering  into  covenant  with  the  Almighty.  I  felt  as  though  I  wished 
to  withdraw  my  promise,  but  could  not.  Something  seemed  to  say : 
"  Your  prayer  is  answered,  your  conditions  are  accepted."  And  from 
that  time  the  conviction  has  never  left  me  that  I  was  called  to  China. 

I  obtained  all  the  works  I  could  on  that  interesting  country,  and 
read  them  as  I  was  able.  I  see  there  an  unbounded  field  of  usefubiess, 
and  there  by  the  grace  of  God  I  mean  to  go.  I  feel  my  own  salvation 
depends  on  it.    May  I  be  made  the  humble  instrument  of  much  good. 

Mr.  Whitworth,  the  respected  Local  Treasurer  of  the  Bible  Society, 
lent  me  several  numbers  of  The  Watchman  in  which  were  papers  on 
China.  There  I  first  saw  a  notice  of  your  Society.  Afterwards,  seeing 
more  about  it  in  The  Gleaner,  I  ventured  to  write  to  you  in  the  hope 
of  being  able  to  do  a  little  to  forward  the  cause. 

I  obtained  through  Mr.  Whitworth  a  copy  of  the  writings  of  St. 
Luke  in  Chinese,  and  discovered  the  meaning  of  many  characters  by 
comparing  passages  with  the  aid  of  an  English  Concordance.  I  also 
procured  a  copy  of  Marshman's  Clavis  Sinica.  Medhurst's  Grammar 
was  ordered  but  could  not  be  procured.  But  I  found  I  could  not  with 
advantage  continue  the  study  of  the  language  without  a  Dictionary, 
which  I  was  not  able  to  afford.  So  I  thought  I  should  do  more  good 
by  studying  necessary  subjects  such  as  Anatomy,  Physiology,  Medicine 
and  Surgery,  which  accordingly  I  have  done. 

I  will  now  endeavour  to  answer  your  questions  : 

I.  Some  of  the  reasons  that  make  me  think,  nay,  make  me  sure 
(for  I  have  no  doubt  on  the  matter)  that  I  am  truly  converted  to  God 
are  as  follows  : 

The  things  I  used  formerly  to  delight  in  now  give  me  no  pleasure, 
while  reading  the  Word,  prayer  and  the  means  of  grace,  which  were 
formerly  distasteful  to  me,  are  now  my  delight. 

Once  the  world  was  all  my  treasure, 
And  the  world  my  heart  possessed  : 

Now  I  taste  sublimer  pleasure 

Since  the  Lord  has  made  me  blest. 

I  know  I  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  because  I  love  the  brethren. 
The  Spirit  of  God  bears  direct  witness  with  my  spirit  that  I  am  His 
child.  My  mind  is  kept  in  perfect  peace  because  I  trust  in  Him.  And 
I  feel  no  doubt  that  should  I  be  called  hence,  when  this  earthly  taber- 
nacle is  dissolved  I  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  I  feel  I  am  but  a  stranger  here.  Heaven 
is  my  home  ...  I  know  that  in  myself  there  is  nothing  that  can 


104  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

merit  Heaven.     I  am  a  poor,  helpless,  hell-deserving  sinner.     But  in 
Him  all  fulness  dwells.     I  am,  praised  be  God,  a  sinner  saved  by  grace. 

II.  My  age  will  be  nineteen  on  the  21st  of  May  1851.  Of  course  I 
am  unmarried. 

III.  As  to  the  general  state  of  my  health :  I  have  never  had  any 
serious  illness,  but  cannot  be  called  robust.  I  have  never  been  better 
than  at  present,  and  intend  to  take  more  care  of  my  health  than  I 
have  previously  done,  having  often  neglected  exercise  for  weeks 
together  in  order  to  have  more  time  for  study. 

IV.  My  occupation  has  been,  since  Christmas  1845,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  nine  months  spent  in  the  bank,  that  of  assistant  to  my  father, 
who  is  a  chemist  and  druggist. 

V.  My  education  was  carried  on  at  home  until  I  was  eleven  years 
of  age.  Then  I  went  to  school,  and  continued  there  until  I  was  thirteen, 
when  the  master  resigning  without  arranging  for  an  efficient  substitute, 
I  left  at  the  Christmas  vacation  and  came  into  the  shop.  Besides  the 
regular  routine  of  study,  I  worked  at  Latin,  Euclid  and  Algebra,  in 
which  I  took  great  interest.  Since  then  I  have  had  access  to  a  toler- 
ably good  library,  and  have  acquired  the  rudiments  of  Greek  as  well 
as  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

VI.  With  regard  to  denominational  views  :  at  first  I  joined  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists,  as  my  parents  and  friends  were  members  of  that 
body.  But  not  being  able  to  reconcile  the  late  proceedings  with  the 
doctrines  and  precepts  of  Holy  Scripture,  I  withdrew,  and  am  at  present 
united  to  the  branch  Society. 

Apologising  for  thus  intruding  upon  your  time — I  remain,  dear  Sir, 
yours  in  our  beloved  Redeemer, 

James  Hudson  Taylor. 

Meanwhile  his  prayers  for  guidance  were  being  answered 
through  an  opening  that  occurred  in  Hull  for  an  assistant 
to  one  of  the  busiest  doctors  there.  An  aunt  on  his  mother's 
side  was  married  to  a  brother  of  this  Dr.  Hardey,  and  it 
was  probably  her  influence  that  secured  the  position  for  her 
nephew  in  Barnsley.  In  many  ways  it  seemed  the  very 
thing  he  needed,  and  from  his  point  of  view  was  none  the 
less  desirable  for  being  within  easy  reach  of  Barton,  where 
Amelia  and  the  yoimg  music-teacher  were  still  in  Mrs. 
Hodson's  school.  It  was  not  London,  nor  did  it  enable  him 
to  avail  himself  of  the  aid  Mr.  Pearse  and  his  Society  had 
offered.  But  it  was  the  way  providentially  opened  after 
much  prayer,  and  as  such  was  thankfully  accepted.. 

On  one  of  the  last  days  before  leaving  Barnsley,  Hudson 


NO  GOOD  THING  WILL  HE  WITHHOLD        105 

spoke  for  the  first  time  in  public.  This  was  at  Royston, 
within  sight  of  the  fine  old  church  in  which  James  and 
Betty  Taylor  had  been  married.  There  on  his  wedding-day 
the  stone-mason  had  first  confessed  his  allegiance  to  a  new 
Master,  and  there  seventy-five  years  later  came  the  great- 
grandson  who  bore  his  name  to  give  his  first  public  testimony 
to  that  Master's  saving  grace. 

"  On  Tuesday  I  went  to  preach  at  Royston,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister 
the  following  day.  "  The  room  was  crowded  ;  there  would  be  from 
fifty  to  sixty  present,  I  never  was  so  blessed  in  my  life.  We  had  a 
prayer-meeting  afterwards  in  which  ten  or  twelve  took  part.  One 
little  girl  of  about  thirteen  came  to  the  penitent-form  and  professed 
to  find  peace.    She  is  young,  but  Jesus  can  keep  her." 

Thus  the  quiet  years  of  life  at  home  drew  to  a  close,  and 
early  in  May  the  separation  came  that  meant  so  much  for 
both  Hudson  and  his  mother.  Full  well  they  knew  it  was 
but  the  beginning  of  that  longer  parting  toward  which  their 
faces  were  set.  But  they  spoke  much  of  the  joy  and  privilege 
of  suffering  for  Jesus'  sake  and  trusted  Him  about  the  sorrow. 

It  was  on  his  nineteenth  birthday  that  after  a  brief  visit 
to  his  grandparents  in  Hull  the  new  apprentice  took  up  his 
duties  with  Dr.  Hardey.  The  day  was  naturally  a  busy  one, 
and  not  till  nearly  midnight  did  he  find  time  for  the  few  lines 
to  his  sister  that  could  not  be  omitted. 

"  From  what  I  have  seen  of  my  situation,"  he  wrote,  "  I  think  I 
shall  like  it  exceedingly.  Of  course  I  felt  very  strange  and  awkward 
at  first,  but  I  have  begun  to  be  more  at  home  now  and  to  know  better 
where  to  find  things  and  what  to  do." 

And  then  his  thoughts  carried  him  away  from  his  new 
surroundings  and  across  the  Humber  to  the  quiet,  old-world 
township  in  which  his  dear  ones  lived.  How  near  he  was 
to  them  at  last  !  His  heart  beat  quick  with  hope  as  he 
realised  that  almost  any  day  he  might  see  them. 

"  I  am  to  have  an  hour  to  myself  at  dinner  and  another  at  tea- 
time,"  he  continued  eagerly,  "  I  almost  think  I  shall  be  able  to  run 
over  to  Barton  sometimes  in  the  evening,  by  a  little  arrangement 
and  being  willing  to  stay  over-time  when  needed.  .  .  . 


io6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  Go  on  praying  for  me  and  all  the  others.  You  cannot  think  how 
happy  I  feel  in  my  Saviour's  love.  Oh,  He  has  loved  me,  the  chief  of 
sinners  !  I  love  Him  for  it.  He  has  hitherto  granted  all  my  prayers 
and  He  will  grant  me  more  before  midsummer.  '  The  crooked  shall 
be  made  straight.'     You  understand,  Love.    Farewell." 


CHAPTER   IX 

THAT   I   MAY   WIN   CHRIST 

May-December  185  i.    Aet,  19. 

Dr.  Robert  Hardey  of  13  Charlotte  Street  was  widely 
esteemed  in  the  city  of  Hull  as  a  reliable  medical  man  and 
a  consistent  Christian.  He  was  very  busy,  having  in  addition 
to  a  large,  general  practice  the  surgical  oversight  of  a  number 
of  factories  and  a  lectureship  in  the  School  of  Medicine. 
Tall  and  vigorous  in  appearance  he  was  unusually  gentle 
and  full  of  fun,  and  was  beloved  by  little  children  and  the 
poor  who  crowded  his  dispensary  no  less  than  by  wealthy 
patients  in  their  beautiful  homes.  His  humour  seems  to 
have  been  irresistible,  and  in  spite  of  themselves  those 
under  his  care  had  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  things.  Often 
indeed  he  made  people  laugh  so  much  that  they  were  cured 
of  half  their  ailments  without  recourse  to  medicine  at  all. 
And  better  still,  in  troubles  medicine  could  not  touch,  he 
knew  how  to  bring  help  and  healing  to  the  soul. 

His  home  of  which  Hudson  Taylor  was  now  an  inmate 
was  the  city  doctor's  house  of  the  old-fashioned  type.  The 
broad  thoroughfare,  like  Harley  Street  in  London,  was  a 
centre  for  the  profession  in  those  days  and  quite  aristocratic. 
Number  13  stood  on  the  sunny  side  and  was  specially  at- 
tractive for  the  Virginia  creeper  that  framed  the  windows 
in  a  wealth  of  green.  To  the  right  of  the  hall  as  one  entered 
was  the  consulting-room,  beyond  which  the  dining-room 
overlooked  a  narrow  strip  of  garden  with  the  dispensary  at 
its  farther  end.  This  garden,  much  traversed  by  the  doctor 
and  his  assistant,  consisted  mainly  of  a  lawn,  on  one  side  of 

107 


io8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

which  a  pathway  overarched  with  roses  led  to  what  had 
been  the  stables  but  was  now  an  out-patient  department, 
conveniently  accessible  from  a  back  street. 

Here  then  in  what  was  called  the  Surgery  Hudson  Taylor 
found  himself  at  home.  Mrs.  Hardey's  supervision  had 
not  extended  apparently  to  this  branch  of  the  estabUshment, 
but  the  new  assistant  was  equal  to  the  occasion  and  soon 
had  everything  in  apple-pie  order,  after  the  fashion  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  at  home.  His  knowledge 
of  book-keeping  also  proved  of  value  to  Dr.  Hardey,  who 
had  much  work  of  that  sort  on  hand  and  was  glad  to  leave 
it  to  so  competent  a  helper.  Thus  the  doctor's  relations 
with  the  Barnsley  lad  soon  came  to  be  of  a  cordial  character. 
He  was  so  bright  and  eager  to  learn,  so  willing  and  good- 
tempered,  that  to  work  with  him  was  a  pleasure,  and  before 
long  the  busy  doctor  found  that  it  was  a  help  to  pray  with 
him  too.  Many  were  the  quiet  times,  after  that,  from  which 
the  older  man  came  away  refreshed  and  strengthened. 
Needless  to  say  there  was  no  familiarity  or  presuming  on 
these  relations.  The  young  assistant  respected  himself 
and  his  employer  far  too  much  for  that.  He  did  his  work 
faithfully,  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  Dr.  Hardey  showed 
his  appreciation  by  giving  him  opportunities  for  study  and 
by  directing  his  reading  as  much  as  possible. 

But  there  were  drawbacks  to  the  hfe  at  Charlotte  Street, 
of  which  Hudson  Taylor  himself  was  largely  unconscious. 
For  one  thing  it  was  too  comfortable,  too  easy-going  in 
certain  ways,  and  failed  on  that  account  to  afford  some 
elements  needed  in  a  missionary's  training.  Quite  in  another 
part  of  Hull  amid  very  different  surroundings  was  a  httle 
"  prophet's  chamber,"  bare  in  its  furnishings  and  affording 
neither  companionship  nor  luxury,  where  a  stronger  if  a 
sterner  life  could  be  lived,  apart  with  God.  Moses  at  the 
backside  of  the  wilderness,  Joseph  in  Pharaoh's  prison, 
Paul  in  the  silence  of  the  Arabian  desert — lived  that  sort 
of  Ufe,  and  came  out  to  do  great  things  for  men  in  the  power 
of  God.  That  was  the  Ufe  Hudson  Taylor  needed  and  to 
which  he  was  being  led.  He  did  not  choose  it  for  himself, 
at  any  rate  not  at  first  or  consciously.     The  Lord  chose  it 


RIVER  NUMBER 


F.  Howard  Taylor,  del. 


lAP    OF    HULL    AS    IT    WAS    IN    1851. 


Showing  (D)  location  of  Dr.  Hartley's  house  on  Charlotte  Street ;  (H)  of  Mrs.  Richard  Harde.v  s 
home  on  Kingston  Square ;  and  (F)  of  Mrs.  Finch's  cottage,  facing  Cottinghani  Drain  ;  also  (B)  the 
old  Humber  Dock  and  the  crowded  neighbourhood  of  the  Royal  Infirmary,  where  Mr.  Taylor  used  to 
preach  and  distribute  tracts  on  Sunday. 


no  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

for  him,  and  so  ordered  circumstances  that  he  was  brought 
to  see  and  to  embrace  it,  finding  in  self-denial  and  the  daily 
cross  a  fellowship  with  his  Master  nothing  else  can  yield. 

So  there  came  a  day,  providentially,  when  the  young 
assistant  could  no  longer  be  domiciled  at  Dr.  Hardey's. 
His  room  was  needed  for  a  member  of  the  family,  and  as 
the  Surgery  was  not  provided  with  sleeping  accommodation 
he  had  to  seek  quarters  elsewhere.  But  it  was  too  much, 
perhaps,  of  a  transition  to  that  other,  better  hfe  which 
awaited  him,  without  some  intermediate  experience,  and 
for  the  time  being  Hudson  Taylor  found  himself  welcomed 
by  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Richard  Hardey,  into  her  pleasant  home. 

This  was  in  some  ways  more  congenial  than  the  first 
arrangement,  and  quite  as  convenient  for  his  daily  work. 
The  Richard  Hardeys  lived  on  Kingston  Square,  opposite 
the  Medical  School  at  which  Hudson  was  attending  lectures 
and  within  two  minutes  of  the  Surgery.  They  were  not 
wealthy  people,  indeed  Mrs.  Hardey's  skilful  brush  supplied 
the  larger  part  of  their  income.  But  they  were  generous 
and  warm-hearted,  and  having  no  children  of  their  own 
were  glad  to  entertain  a  sister's  son.  Mrs.  Hardey  inherited 
the  family  gift  for  portrait-painting,^  and  her  attractive 
personahty  in  addition  to  her  husband's  genial  spirit  gathered 
about  them  a  large  circle  of  friends.  All  this  Hudson  enjoyed 
to  the  full,  especially  when  his  sister  came  over  from  Barton 
to  spend  a  Sunday  with  them. 

But  though  happy  in  outward  circumstances  he  was 
anything  but  free  from  anxiety  and  unrest.  Life  was  open- 
ing before  him,  and  away  from  the  scenes  of  childhood, 
dependent  for  the  first  time  upon  his  own  earnings,  he  was 
feeUng  the  seriousness  of  his  position  as  never  before.  He 
had  taken  as  he  thought  a  step  toward  China,  and  yet  his 
hope  of  getting  there,  his  ideal  of  a  life  devoted  to  its  evangeli- 
sation seemed  more  and  more  remote  as  time  went  on.  He 
had  come  to  Hull  eager  to  fit  himself  for  medical  work,  but 
his  busy  days  with  Dr.  Hardey  left  little  time  for  study, 
while  they  showed  him  with  increasing  clearness  how  far 
he  was  from  the  end  in  view.     Though  he  said  little  about 

1  See  Frontispiece. 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  iii 

it,  the  call  of  God  was  as  a  fire  burning  within  him.  The 
thought  of  perishing  souls  in  China  was  ever  present.  Day 
and  night  he  pondered  the  problem  of  how  to  prepare  for 
and  enter  upon  his  life-work.  To  his  youth  and  inexperience 
no  answer  seemed  forthcoming  ;  yet  how  hard  it  was  to 
wait  in  patience,  to  wait  for  God  alone.  In  the  main  he  did, 
as  before  leaving  Barnsley,  rest  in  the  Lord  and  count  upon 
His  working.  Yet  the  quiet  Surgery  witnessed  many  an 
hour  of  anxious  thought  as  well  as  many  an  hour  of  prayer, 
and  all  through  that  summer  and  autumn  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  unnecessary  exercise  of  heart. 

Perhaps  also  there  was  another  reason  for  those  months 
of  trouble  and  unrest,  just  as  another  fire  was  consuming 
within  him  not  a  little  spiritual  strength.  For  he  was  out 
of  harmony  with  God  in  the  matter  of  his  deepest  affections, 
that  inner  citadel  of  being  so  often  the  last  stronghold  yielded 
to  His  control.  Unconsciously  it  may  be  he  was  holding 
something  back — something,  the  best  thing  in  his  manhood — 
not  recognising  that  in  that  realm  also  "  every  thought"  must 
be  brought  into  subjection  to  "  the  obedience  of  Christ." 
He  was  giving  far  too  much  of  himself  to  the  one  who  had 
come  as  a  bright,  beautiful  vision  into  his  life  a  year  and  a 
half  before.  It  was  one  thing,  he  discovered,  to  think  of 
her  in  Barnsley  out  of  reach,  and  quite  another  in  Hull, 
where  any  day  they  might  meet.  His  love  was  growing  too 
strong  for  him,  quickened  by  hopeful  indications  of  its  being 
returned  on  her  part. 

And  yet  he  had  begun  to  feel  instinctively  that  her  life 
was  not  fully  yielded  to  God.  Though  there  was  no  engage- 
ment between  them  they  understood  one  another  without 
words,  and  he  could  not  but  be  conscious  that  her  influence 
was  aU  against  a  future  she  was  unwilling  to  face. 

"  Must  you  go  to  China  ?  "  she  questioned  at  times,  her 
tone  clearly  implying,  "  How  much  nicer  it  would  be  to 
stay  and  serve  the  Lord  at  home  !  " 

Fervently  he  prayed  that  she  might  come  to  feel  as  he 
did ;  for  nothing,  not  even  the  loss  of  her  love,  could  alter 
his  call  from  God.  But  how  could  he  go  forward  at  such  a 
cost  ?     How  face  the  anguish  of  losing  her  just  when  it 


112  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

seemed  she  might  be  won  ?  Oh  the  struggle  of  those  autumn 
days  when  he  could  no  longer  escape  the  fear  that  their 
paths  must  lie  apart !  Older  people  may  pass  on,  perhaps, 
with  little  perception  of  what  such  a  situation  means  ;  but 
young  hearts  understand,  and  there  is  one  infinite  Heart 
that  is  always  young,  always  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  griefs.     That  Friend  did  not  fail  Hudson  Taylor. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  helpful  experiences  found 
their  way  into  his  life  at  this  time.  He  was  strengthened  by 
association  with  fellow  believers  who  were  able  to  lead  him 
into  a  deeper  knowledge  of  God  ;  he  was  encouraged  in 
work  for  others,  simple  efforts  to  help  the  poor  and  suffering 
and  to  win  the  most  degraded  to  a  new  life  in  Christ ;  and 
the  way  opened,  strange  to  say,  for  a  visit  to  London,  just 
when  the  first  International  Exhibition  was  attracting 
thousands  to  the  far-famed  Crystal  Palace  :  all  providential 
happenings,  no  doubt,  in  view  of  the  trial  through  which  he 
had  yet  to  pass. 

It  was  no  small  mercy,  for  example,  that  led  him  during 
this  sojourn  in  Hull  into  fellowship  with  a  company  of 
Christians  exceptionally  fitted  to  meet  his  need.  Shortly 
before  leaving  home  he  had  for  conscientious  reasons 
resigned  his  connection  with  the  denomination  in  which  he 
had  been  brought  up.  During  the  progress  of  a  widespread 
Reform  Movement  he  and  his  parents  had  felt  obhged  to 
side  with  the  minority,  at  no  Httle  sacrifice  of  personal 
interests.  This  had  led  Hudson  to  the  study  of  Church 
history  and  government,  and  opened  his  eyes  to  the  hmita- 
tions  of  all  human  systems,  even  the  best.  He  had  followed 
his  parents  in  joining  "  the  Reformers,"  afterwards  known 
as  the  Methodist  Free  Church,  but  personally  had  begun  to 
feel  himself  something  more  than  a  Wesley  an,  bound  by 
more  important  ties  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity  and  truth.  While  still  in  Barnsley  he  had 
enjoyed  the  meetings  of  the  so-called  Plymouth  Brethren, 
ministered  to  by  Mr.  William  Neatby,  and  now  in  Hull  was 
glad  to  renew  associations  that  had  already  proved  helpful. 

The  Hull  Meeting  at  that  time  was  a  strong,  united  body, 
profiting  greatly  from  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Jukes,  a  man  of 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  113 

culture  and  spiritual  illumination.^  Their  quiet  gatherings 
on  Sunday  morning  were  specially  suited  to  help  young 
Hudson  Taylor.  He  was  hungry  for  the  Word  of  God,  and 
their  preaching  was  for  the  most  part  a  thoughtful  exposition 
of  its  truths.  He  needed  a  fresh  vision  of  eternal  things, 
and  the  presence  of  Christ  was  often  so  real  on  these  occasions 
that  it  was  like  heaven  on  earth  to  be  among  them.  He 
was  facing  a  difficult  future,  and  they  set  before  him  an 
example  of  faith  in  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  things  that 
surpassed  his  utmost  thought.  For  this  meeting  was  in 
close  touch  with  George  Miiller  of  Bristol,  whose  work 
was  even  then  assuming  remarkable  proportions.  He  had 
already  hundreds  of  orphan  children  under  his  care,  and 
was  looking  to  the  Lord  for  means  to  support  a  thousand. 
But  this  did  not  exhaust  his  sympathies.  With  a  deep  con- 
viction that  these  are  the  days  in  which  the  Gospel  must  be 
preached  "  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations,"  he  sustained  in 
whole  or  part  many  missionaries,  and  was  engaged  in 
circulating  the  Scriptures  far  and  wide  in  Roman  Catholic 
as  well  as  heathen  lands.  All  this  extensive  work,  carried  on 
by  a  penniless  man  through  faith  in  God  alone,  with  no 
appeals  for  help  or  guarantee  of  stated  income,  was  a 
wonderful  testimony  to  the  power  of  "  effectual,  fervent 
prayer."  As  such  it  made  a  profound  impression  upon 
Hudson  Taylor,  and  encouraged  him  more  than  anything 
else  could  have  in  the  pathway  he  was  about  to  enter. 

And  then  his  work  helped  him,  not  only  the  daily  round 
of  duties  in  the  Surgery  but  the  service  he  had  undertaken 
in  addition  for  the  Lord.  A  little  to  the  west  of  Dr.  Hardey's 
stood  the  Royal  Infirmary,  the  largest  hospital  in  the  city, 
about  which  lay  a  network  of  squalid  streets  culminating 
in  the  Irish  quarter.  Here  drinking  saloons  and  tramps' 
lodging-houses  abounded,  and  the  police  hardly  ventured 
to  appear  in  less  force  than  three  or  four  at  a  time.  Riots 
and  drunken  brawls  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  nothing 
was  more  common  than  for  the  priest  to  be  called  in  to 
thrash  his  tipsy  parishioners.     Garden  Street,  one  of  the 

'  The  Rev.  Andrew  Jukes,  previously  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England,  did  not  hold  in  those  days,  or  at  any  rate  did  not  teach,  the  views 
with  which  his  name  was  afterwards  connected. 


114  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

larger  thoroughfares  through  this  district,  and  West  and 
Middle  Streets  close  to  the  Infirmary  seemed  specially  the 
haunts  of  misery  and  vice.  It  required  courage,  as  Hudson 
Taylor  found,  to  go  among  that  bigoted  population  as  a 
preacher  of  the  Gospel,  but  a  little  knowledge  of  medicine 
with  a  great  deal  of  love  and  prayer  opened  the  way  and  gave 
access  to  many  a  heart. 

"  The  people  seemed  pleased  to  see  us,"  he  wrote  of  one  sultry 
evening  in  July,  "  and  received  the  tracts  willingly.  We  went  to  several 
lodging-houses.  In  one,  Kester  read  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and 
said  a  little  about  it,  and  in  another  I  read  the  fifty-fifth  chapter  of 
Isaiah.  People  kept  dropping  in  until  we  had  forty  or  fifty  Hsteners. 
I  spoke  a  little  and  so  did  Kester.  Last  Sunday  I  went  again  and  felt 
very  happy." 

"  I  think  it  is  very  difficult,"  he  continued  in  a  later  letter,  "  to  set 
our  affections  wholly  on  things  above.  I  try  to  be  a  '  living  epistle  ' 
of  the  Lord's,  but  when  I  look  within  I  wonder  many  a  time  He  does 
not  cast  me  off.  I  seek  to  subdue  my  will,  to  blend  it  with  His,  and 
say  and  feel  in  all  things  '  Thy  will  be  done.'  But  even  while  I  try, 
I  can  scarcely  keep  back  the  tears.  For  I  seem  to  have  an  impression 
that  I  shall  lose  my  Dear  One,  and  God  only  knows  the  struggle  it  is 
to  say, '  Nevertheless,  not  my  will  but  Thine  be  done.' 

''  Do  you  think  I  should  be  justified  in  going  to  London  shortly  ? 
If  it  were  only  for  pleasure,  I  could  decide  at  once ;  for  much  as  I 
should  like  to  go,  my  pleasures  must  not  stand  in  the  way  of  duty. 
But  sometimes  I  think  that  Lobscheid  might  give  me  informa- 
tion worth  going  for.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  and  have  your 
advice." 

That  idea  about  going  to  London  certainly  came  at  the 
right  time.  The  German  missionary  Lobscheid,  to  whom 
he  referred,  had  recently  returned  from  China  and  was  one 
of  the  few  people  who  could  speak  from  experience  of  the 
practicability  of  missionary  work  away  from  the  Treaty 
Ports.  Possessing  some  medical  knowledge  he  had  been 
enabled  to  travel  repeatedly  in  what  was  then  considered 
"  the  interior,"  a  populous  district  on  the  mainland,  north 
of  Hong-kong  ;  and  now  that  he  was  for  a  short  time  in 
England  Hudson  Taylor  was  anxious  to  profit  from  his  advice. 

His  parents  approving  the  idea,  and  Dr.  Hardey  giving 
him  a  week's  holiday,  he  decided  to  take  advantage  of  a 
special  train  running  up  to  the  Exhibition,  and   (at  his 


From  an  Oil  Fuintimj  hy  Mrs.  Hariky. 

AMELIA    HUDSON    TAYLOR,    AFTERWARDS    MRS.    BENJAMIX    BROOMHALL. 

Tlie  sister  next  in  age  to  Mr.  Taylor  and  closely  associated  with  his  life-work. 

To  face  page  115. 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  115 

expense)  it  was  arranged  that  his  sister  should  accompany 
him.  This  seemed  almost  too  good  to  be  true,  until  they 
were  actually  speeding  southward  in  the  express  bearing 
hundreds  of  excursionists  to  London.  Never  had  they 
visited  the  great  Metropohs  before,  and  he  was  just  as  eager 
to  meet  Mr.  Pearse  and  the  missionary  from  China  as  she 
was  to  explore  the  wonders  of  the  Crystal  Palace.  An 
artist  uncle  arranged  accommodation  for  them  in  his  Soho 
lodgings,  and  proved  a  delightful  cicerone  for  his  niece  when 
Hudson  was  otherwise  occupied. 

That  was  a  memorable  time  in  London,  from  the  moment 
they  caught  sight  of  its  lights  shining  like  stars  in  the  distance 
to  the  journey  home  together  when  they  Hved  it  all  over 
again. 

Amelia  remembered  best,  perhaps,  the  glittering  Palace 
as  it  broke  upon  their  sight  from  Piccadilly,  the  sun  shining 
on  its  crystal  dome  amid  the  greenery  of  Hyde  Park.  It 
was  her  sixteenth  birthday,  and  Hudson  was  free  to  spend 
it  with  her,  which  made  their  happiness  complete.  Together 
they  went  to  the  Exhibition  and  wandered  among  the  ferns 
and  flowers  in  which  its  fairy-like  scenes  were  set.  They 
lunched  at  a  restaurant  in  proper  style,  investing  in  a  pine- 
apple, a  rare  luxury  in  those  days.  Then  they  traversed 
the  gay,  crowded  city  to  the  Bank  of  England,  where  a 
rendezvous  had  been  arranged  with  Mr.  Pearse. 

A  busy  member  of  the  Stock  Exchange  as  well  as  Secretary 
of  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society,  Mr.  Pearse  had  not 
much  time  for  visitors  in  office  hours.  He  was  glad,  however, 
to  meet  his  correspondent  from  Barnsley,  and  as  he  talked 
with  the  bright  earnest  lad  whose  face  bore  unmistakable 
testimony  to  the  spirit  within,  and  the  little  sister  as  modest 
and  lovely  in  appearance  as  she  was  in  heart,  interest  soon 
deepened  to  a  warmer  feeling.  Tottenham — yes,  he  must 
take  them  to  Tottenham  and  the  Brook  Street  meeting. 
There  they  would  be  sure  to  find  a  welcome  and  a  real  spirit 
of  prayer  on  behalf  of  China.  So  to  Tottenham  they  went 
with  him  the  following  Sunday, 

And  this  to  Hudson  at  any  rate  was  the  most  delightful  of 
all  their  experiences.     For  the  Tottenham  friends,  once  seen, 


ii6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

could  never  be  forgotten.  He  was  familiar  already  with  the 
names  of  John  Eliot  Howard  and  his  brother  Robert  Howard 
of  Bruce  Grove,  who  since  the  visit  of  Dr.  Gutzlaff  to  England 
had  been  on  the  Committee  of  the  C.E.S.  He  knew  from 
The  Gleaner  also  of  the  activity  of  the  ladies  in  their  Auxihary 
Society,  and  that  they  were  considerable  donors  to  the  work. 
But  how  little  could  he  have  anticipated  the  charm  and 
culture,  the  gracious  spirit  and  generous  hospitality  of  their 
homes  ! 

If  anywhere  on  earth  ideal  Christian  families  were  to  be 
found  in  surroundings  as  nearly  perfect  as  wealth  and  refine- 
ment could  make  them,  it  was  in  the  pleasant  suburb  of 
Tottenham  in  those  days.  Not  that  there  was  lavish 
expenditure  on  luxury,  for  they  came  of  a  Quaker  stock  with 
simple  tastes  and  habits  ;  but  the  beauty  of  the  inward  life 
imparted  to  it  all  a  something  money  could  not  buy.  About 
the  parents,  still  young  or  in  the  prime  of  life,  large  famihes 
were  growing  up,  trained  in  an  atmosphere  of  Christian 
courtesy.  AU  was  cheerful,  orderly,  unostentatious.  Home- 
like rooms,  beautifully  furnished,  opened  on  lawns  shaded 
by  spreading  cedars.  Friends  from  far  and  near  gathered 
around  the  ample  board,  where  quiet  talk  flowed  freely  on 
the  deepest  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  And  best  of 
all,  the  love  of  Christ  possessed  and  permeated  everything. 

The  Brook  Street  meeting  that  gathered  these  famihes 
on  Sunday  was  also  exceptional  in  its  ministry  and  spirit. 
Many  well-known  Brethren  were  among  the  speakers  in 
those  days,  including  the  heads  of  the  Howard  family,  men 
greatly  beloved  for  their  works'  sake.  What  it  must  have 
been  to  Hudson  Taylor  to  be  welcomed  in  such  a  circle, 
words  are  poor  to  express.  It  was  a  new  world  to  him  then, 
full  of  help  and  inspiration,  but  a  world  of  which  he  was  to 
become  a  part.  For  the  friendships  begun  that  day  endured 
throughout  a  lifetime,  strengthening  his  hands  in  God  until 
his  work  on  earth  was  done. 

"  I  love  Tottenham,"  he  wrote  from  China  a  few  years  later.  "  I 
love  those  I  know  there  dearly.  Of  no  other  place  can  I  say  that  my 
every  recollection  is  sweet  and  profitable,  marred  by  no  painful  thought 
or  circumstance,  save  that  I  see  it  no  more." 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  117 

And  the  Tottenham  friends  on  their  part,  what  did  they 
think  of  him  ?  They  saw  a  simple,  Yorkshire  lad  quiet  and 
unassuming.  Introduced  by  their  friend  Mr.  Pearse  as  an 
intending  missionary,  he  was  observed  more  closely  than 
he  might  otherwise  have  been,  and  the  conclusions  come  to 
by  some  of  the  younger  people  are  remembered  to  this  day. 
He  did  not  fit  in  exactly  with  their  idea  of  a  missionary, 
for  he  looked  young  and  delicate  and  was  evidently  full  of 
fun.  But  they  hked  him  none  the  less  for  that,  and  felt  his 
earnestness  and  absorbing  interest  in  China.  In  a  word, 
he  won  their  confidence  just  as  his  Httle  sister  won  their 
hearts.  These  also  were  conclusions  confirmed  in  the  case 
of  parents  as  well  as  children  by  lifelong  fellowship  in  service 
for  the  Lord. 

With  the  missionary  they  had  come  so  far  to  see,  their 
intercourse  seems  to  have  been  less  encouraging.  He  too 
must  have  visited  Bruce  Grove  that  day,  for  one  still  Hving 
in  the  dear  old  home  recalls  a  conversation  that  took  place. 
Mr.  Lobscheid,  besides  being  bright  and  forceful,  was  full 
of  information  about  his  field.  He  may  have  been  superficial 
in  matters  of  judgment,  and  at  any  rate  formed  no  favourable 
impression  of  the  north-country  lad  who  asked  so  many 
questions. 

"  Why,  you  would  never  do  for  China,"  he  exclaimed  at 
length,  drawing  attention  to  his  fair  hair  and  grey-blue  eyes. 
"  They  call  me  '  Red-haired  Devil,'  and  would  run  from  you 
in  terror  !     You  could  never  get  them  to  listen  at  all." 

"  And  yet,"  replied  Hudson  Taylor  quietly,  "it  is  God 
who  has  called  me,  and  He  knows  all  about  the  colour  of 
my  hair  and  eyes." 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  London,  as  Hudson  long 
remembered,  that  he  gained  his  first  impression  of  the  Society 
of  Friends.  Passing  Devonshire  House  in  the  City,  he  was 
struck  by  the  calm  and  gracious  bearing  of  both  men  and 
women  as  they  passed  out  from  "  Yearly  Meeting,"  in  their 
old-time  Quaker  dress.  Could  they  be  really  denizens  of 
this  lower  sphere  ?  The  ladies  especially,  in  snowy  kerchiefs, 
with  silk  or  satin  gowns,  perfect  in  their  simplicity,  looked 
to  him  hke  "  the  Host  of  the  Shining  Ones  "  coming  to 


ii8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

welcome  the  pilgrim  of  Bunyan's  immortal  dream.  Later 
on  he  found  that  the  Howards  of  Tottenham  had  been 
brought  up  as  Friends,  and  learned  from  their  beautiful 
lives  the  value  of  much  that  is  distinctively  "  Friendly  " 
in  thought  and  spirit. 

Refreshed  and  encouraged  by  these  experiences,  Hudson 
Taylor  resumed  his  duties  with  Dr.  Hardey  at  the  end  of 
September,  and  shortly  after  this  it  was  that  the  nest  began 
to  be  stirred  up  about  him.  He  was  again  settled  in  the 
home  of  his  relatives  on  Kingston  Square,  where  every  want 
was  anticipated  and  pleasant  companionship  afforded  out 
of  working  hours.  The  neighbourhood  was  one  of  the  nicest 
in  Hull,  and  as  far  as  circumstances  were  concerned  nothing 
could  have  been  more  desirable.  But  this  was  not  all  His 
love  had  planned  who  was  moulding  this  young  life  in  view 
of  China.  Already,  through  disciphne  of  heart,  the  lad  was 
learning  lessons  of  patience  and  submission  to  the  will  of 
God.  But  something  more  was  needed,  something  even  of 
outward  trial  to  prepare  him  for  the  life-work  that  was  to 
be.  Away  in  an  unfrequented  suburb  that  httle  home  was 
waiting — a  single  room  in  which  he  could  be  alone  as  never 
before,  alone  with  God.  The  steps  by  which  he  was  led  to  it 
were  very  simple,  beginning,  as  he  himself  records,  with  a 
conscientious  difficulty  about  remaining  where  he  was. 

"  Before  leaving  Barnsley,"  he  wrote,  recalling  this  experience, 
"  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the  subject  of  setting  apart  the  first- 
fruits  of  all  one's  increase  and  a  certain  proportion  of  one's  possessions 
for  the  service  of  the  Lord.  It  seemed  to  me  desirable  to  study  the 
question  Bible  in  hand  before  one  went  from  home  and  was  placed  in 
circumstances  that  might  bias  one's  conclusions  by  the  pressure  of 
definite  wants  and  cares.  In  this  way  I  was  led  to  the  determination 
to  set  apart  not  less  than  one-tenth  of  whatever  moneys  I  might  earn 
or  become  possessed  of,  for  the  Lord. 

"  The  salary  I  received  as  medical  assistant  in  Hull  would  have 
allowed  me  to  do  this  without  difficulty,  but  owing  to  changes  in  the 
family  of  my  kind  friend  and  employer  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  reside 
out  of  doors.  Comfortable  quarters  were  secured  with  a  relative,  and 
in  addition  to  the  sum  I  had  previously  received,  the  exact  amount 
was  allowed  me  that  I  had  to  pay  for  board  and  lodging. 

"  Now  arose  in  my  mind  the  reflection,  '  Ought  not  this  also  to  be 


Plwtograiilis  by 


F.  Howard  Taylor. 


KINGSTON    SQUARE  AND    "  DRAINSIDE." 

1.  The  home  of  Mrs.  Richard  Hardey— first  house  on  the  righl. 

2.  Mrs.  Fincli's  cottage-last  on  the  left.     The  room  Mr.  Taylor  occupied  is  to  the  left  of  the  front  door. 

To  face  page  1 19. 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  iig 

tithed  ? '  It  was  surely  a  part  of  my  income,  and  had  it  been  a  question 
of  government  income  tax  would  certainly  not  have  been  excluded. 
But  to  take  a  tithe  from  the  whole  would  have  left  me  insufficient  for 
other  purposes,  and  for  a  time  I  was  embarrassed  to  know  what  to  do. 
"  After  much  thought  and  prayer,  I  was  led  to  leave  the  comfortable 
home  and  pleasant  circle  in  which  I  resided,  and  engage  a  little  lodging 
in  the  suburbs,  a  sitting-room  and  bedroom  in  one,  undertaking  to 
board  myself.  I  was  thus  enabled  to  tithe  the  whole  of  my  income  ; 
and  while  one  felt  the  change  a  good  deal,  it  was  attended  with  no  small 
blessing.  More  time  was  given  in  my  solitude  to  the  study  of  the 
Word  of  God,  to  visiting  the  poor  and  to  evangelistic  work  on  Sunday 
evenings  than  would  otherwise  have  been  the  case.  Brought  into 
contact  in  this  way  with  many  who  were  in  distress,  I  soon  saw  the 
privilege  of  still  further  economising,  and  found  it  possible  to  give 
away  much  more  than  I  had  at  first  intended." 

It  all  reads  so  simply  and  naturally  that  one  can  hardly 
imagine  any  special  sacrifice  to  have  been  involved.  Let 
us  hunt  up  this  "  sitting-room  and  bedroom  in  one," 
however,  and  find  out  what  were  in  actual  fact  the  surround- 
ings for  which  he  had  given  up  his  home  on  Kingston 
Square.   The  change  could  scarcely  have  been  more  complete. 

"  Drainside,"  as  the  neighbourhood  was  termed,  could 
not  under  any  circumstances  have  been  considered  inviting. 
It  consisted  of  a  double  row  of  workmen's  cottages  facing 
each  other  across  a  narrow  canal,  connecting  the  country 
district  of  Cottingham  with  the  docks  and  estuary  of  the 
Humber.  The  canal  was  nothing  but  a  deep  ditch  into 
which  Drainside  people  were  in  the  habit  of  casting  their 
rubbish,  to  be  carried  away  in  part  whenever  the  tide  rose 
high  enough.  It  was  separated  from  the  town  by  desolate 
spaces  of  building-land,  across  which  ran  a  few  ill-hghted 
streets  ending  in  makeshift  wooden  bridges.  The  cottages, 
like  peas  in  a  pod,  were  all  the  same  size  and  shape  down 
both  sides  of  the  long  row.  They  followed  the  windings  of 
the  Drain  for  half  a  mile  or  more,  each  one  having  a  door 
and  two  windows,  one  above  the  other.  The  door  opened 
straight  into  the  kitchen,  and  a  steep  stairway  led  to  the 
room  above.  A  very  few  were  double  cottages  with  a  window 
to  right  and  left  of  the  door  and  two  rooms  overhead. 

On  the  city  side  of  the  canal,  one  of  these  larger  dwellings 


I20  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

stood  at  a  comer  opposite  The  Founder's  Arms,  a  countrified 
public-house  whose  Hghts  were  useful  as  a  landmark  on 
dark  nights,  shining  across  the  mud  and  water  of  the  Drain. 
The  cottage,  known  as  30  Cottingham  Terrace,  was  tenanted 
by  the  family  of  a  seafaring  man,  whose  visits  home  were 
few  and  far  between.  Mrs.  Finch  and  her  children  occupied 
the  kitchen  and  upper  part  of  the  house,  and  the  down- 
stairs room  on  the  left  as  one  entered  was  let  at  a  rental  of 
three  shillings  a  week.  It  was  too  high  a  charge,  seeing  the 
whole  house  went  for  httle  more.  But  the  lodger  in  whom 
we  are  interested  did  not  grudge  it,  especially  when  he  found 
how  much  it  meant  to  the  good  woman  whose  remittances 
from  her  husband  came  none  too  regularly. 

Mrs.  Finch  was  a  true  Christian  and  dehghted  to  have 
"  the  young  Doctor  "  under  her  roof.  She  did  her  best  no 
doubt  to  make  the  little  chamber  clean  and  comfortable, 
pohshing  the  fireplace  opposite  the  window  and  making  up 
the  bed  in  the  comer  farthest  from  the  door.  A  plain 
deal  table  and  a  chair  or  two  completed  the  appointments. 
The  whole  room  was  less  than  twelve  feet  square  and  did 
not  need  much  fm-niture.  It  was  on  a  level  \nth  the  ground 
and  opened  famiharly  out  of  the  kitchen.  From  the  window 
one  looked  across  the  narrowest  strip  of  "  garden  "  to  the 
Drain  beyond,  whose  mud  banks  afforded  a  playgroimd  for 
the  children  of  the  neighbourhood. 

Wliatever  it  may  have  been  in  summer,  toward  the  close 
of  November,,  when  Hudson  Taylor  made  it  his  home,  Drain- 
side  must  have  seemed  drear\'  enough,  and  the  cottage  far 
from  attractive.  To  add  to  the  discomforts  of  the  situation, 
he  was  "  boardhig  himself,"  which  meant  that  he  lived  upon 
next  to  nothing,  bought  his  meagre  supphes  as  he  returned 
from  the  Surger}',  and  rarely  sat  do\Mi,  with  or  without  a 
companion,  to  a  proper  meal.  His  walks  were  sohtaiy' 
across  the  waste,  unhghted  region  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town  ;  his  evenings  sohtar\'  beside  the  httle  fire  in  his 
othen-vise  cheerless  room  ;  and  his  Sundays  were  spent  alone, 
but  for  the  morning  meeting  and  long  hours  of  work  in  his 
district  or  among  the  crowds  that  frequented  the  Humber 
Dock. 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  121 

And  more  than  this,  he  was  at  close  quarters  with  poverty 
and  suffering.  Visiting  in  such  neighbourhoods  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  for  a  few  hours  at  a  time,  but  this  was  very 
different.  It  belonged  to  him  now  in  a  new  way,  and  out- 
wardly at  any  rate  he  belonged  to  it.  He  had  cast  in  his 
lot  with  those  who  needed  him,  and  needed  all  the  help  and 
comfort  he  could  bring.  This  gave  new  purpose  to  his  life 
and  taught  him  some  of  its  most  precious  lessons. 

"  Having  now  the  twofold  object  in  view,"  he  wrote, "  of  accustoming 
myself  to  endure  hardness,  and  of  economising  in  order  to  be  able 
more  largely  to  assist  those  amongst  whom  I  spent  a  good  deal  of  time 
labouring  in  the  Gospel,  I  soon  found  that  I  could  live  upon  very  much 
less  than  I  had  previously  thought  possible.  Butter,  milk  and  other 
luxuries  I  ceased  to  use,  and  found  that  by  living  mainly  on  oatmeal 
and  rice,  with  occasional  variations,  a  very  small  sum  was  sufficient  for 
my  needs.  In  this  way  I  had  more  than  two-thirds  of  my  income 
available  for  other  purposes,  and  my  experience  was  that  the  less  I 
spent  on  myself  and  the  more  I  gave  to  others  the  fuller  of  happiness 
and  blessing  did  my  soul  become." 

For  the  Lord  is  no  man's  debtor  ;  and  here  in  his  solitude 
Hudson  Taylor  was  learning  something  of  what  He  can  be 
to  the  soul  that  leaves  all  for  Him.  In  these  days  of  easy- 
going Christianity  is  it  not  well  to  remind  ourselves  that 
it  reaUy  does  cost — to  be  a  man  or  woman  God  can  use  ? 
One  cannot  obtain  a  Christ-like  character  for  nothing  ;  one 
cannot  do  a  Christ-like  work  save  at  great  price.  And  is 
there  not  a  sense  in  which  even  Christ  Himself  is  to  be  won  ? 
It  is  easy  to  pray  a  little,  help  a  little,  love  a  little  ;  but 
the  missionary  apostle  meant  more  than  this  when  he  said  : 

What  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea 
doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord  :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the 
loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  refuse,  that  I  may  win  Christ, 
and  be  found  in  Him  :  .  .  .  That  I  may  know  Him,  and  the  power  of 
His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  being  made 
conformable  unto  His  death  ;  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the 
out-resurrection  from  among  the  dead  :  ...  If  I  may  apprehend  that 
for  which  also  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.^ 

Much  prayer,  as  we  have  seen,  was  going  up  for  China, 

'   Phil.  iii.  7-12. 


122  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  countless  hearts  were  stirred  more  or  less  deeply  for 
its  evangelisation.  But  when  disappointment  came  and 
unexpected  failure  the  great  majority  ceased  to  help  or  care. 
Prayer  meetings  dwindled  to  nothing,  would-be  missionaries 
turned  aside  to  other  callings,  and  contributions  dropped 
off  to  such  an  extent  that  more  than  one  society  in  aid  of 
the  work  actually  ceased  to  exist.  But  here  and  there  in 
His  own  training-schools  were  those  the  Lord  could  count 
upon  :  little  and  weak  perhaps,  unknown  and  unimportant, 
but  willing  to  go  all  lengths  in  carrying  out  His  purposes, 
ready  through  His  grace  to  meet  the  conditions  and  pay 
the  price. 

Here  in  his  quiet  lodging  at  Drainside  was  such  a  man. 
With  all  his  youth  and  limitations,  Hudson  Taylor  desired 
supremely  a  Christ-like  character  and  life.  As  test  came 
after  test  that  might  have  been  avoided  he  chose  the  path- 
way of  self-emptying  and  the  cross,  not  from  any  idea  of 
merit  in  so  doing,  but  simply  because  he  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Thus  he  was  in  an  attitude  that  did  not 
hinder  blessing. 

Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut 
it :  for  thou  hast  a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept  My  word,  and  hast 
not  denied  My  name. 

A  great  door  and  effectual  .  .  .  and  there  are  many  adversaries.^ 

Adversaries  there  certainly  were  to  oppose  Hudson 
Taylor's  progress  at  this  time.  He  was  entering  upon  one  of 
the  most  fruitful  periods  of  his  life,  rich  in  blessing  for  him- 
self and  others.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  tempter  was  at 
hand  ?  He  was  alone,  hungry  for  love  and  sympathy, 
living  a  life  of  self-denial  hard  for  a  lad  to  bear.  It  was  just 
the  opportunity  for  the  devil,  and  he  was  permitted  for  a 
while  to  do  his  worst,  that  even  that  might  be  overruled 
for  good. 

For  it  was  just  at  this  juncture,  when  he  had  been  a  few 
weeks  at  Drainside  and  was  feeling  his  position  keenly, 
that  the  dreaded  blow  fell,  and  the  one  he  loved  most  in  aU 
the  world  seemed  lost  to  him  for  ever.     For  two  long  years 

1  Rev.  iii.  8;   I  Cor.  xvi.  g. 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  123 

he  had  hoped  and  waited.  The  very  uncertainty  of  the 
future  had  made  him  long  the  more  for  her  presence,  her 
companionship  through  all  changes.  But  now  the  dream 
was  over  ;  and  how  bitter  the  awakening  !  Seeing  that 
nothing  could  dissuade  her  friend  from  his  missionary 
purpose,  the  young  music-teacher  made  it  plain  at  last 
that  she  was  not  prepared  to  go  to  China.  Her  father 
would  not  hear  of  it,  nor  did  she  feel  herself  fitted  for  such 
a  life.  This  could  mean  but  one  thing,  though  the  heart 
that  loved  her  best  was  well-nigh  broken. 

It  was  not  only  an  overwhelming  sorrow,  it  was  a 
tremendous  test  of  faith.  The  tempter,  naturally,  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  call  in  question  the  love  and 
faithfulness  of  God.  Only  break  down  his  trust,  make  him 
give  up  the  struggle  now,  and  the  usefulness  of  all  his  after- 
life would  be  marred. 

Sunday  morning  came,  December  14.  It  was  cold  and 
cheerless  in  the  httle  room  at  Drainside.  The  lad  was 
benumbed  with  sorrow,  for  instead  of  turning  to  the  Lord 
for  comfort  he  kept  it  to  himself  and  nursed  his  grief.  He 
did  not  want  to  pray.  The  trouble  had  come  in  between 
his  soul  and  God.  He  could  not,  would  not  go  as  usual  to 
the  morning  meeting.  He  was  too  fuU  of  bitter  questionings 
and  pain.     Then  came  the  cruel,  insidious  suggestion  : 

"  Is  it  all  worth  while  ?  Why  should  you  go  to  China  ? 
Why  toil  and  suffer  all  your  hfe  for  an  ideal  of  duty  ?  Give 
it  up  now,  while  you  can  yet  win  her.  Earn  a  proper 
living  like  everybody  else,  and  serve  the  Lord  at  home. 
For  you  can  win  her  yet." 

Love  pleaded  hard.  It  was  a  moment  of  wavering  and 
peril.  The  enemy  came  in  Hke  a  flood.  But  enough  ! 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  lifted  up  a  standard  against  him. 

"  Alone  in  the  Surgery,"  he  wrote  the  following  day/  "  I  had  a 
melting  season.  I  was  thoroughly  softened  and  humbled  and  had  a 
wonderful  manifestation  of  the  love  of  God.  '  A  broken  and  a  contrite 
heart '  He  did  not  despise,  but  answered  my  cry  for  blessing  in  very 
deed  and  truth.  May  He  keep  me  softened,  and  thoroughly  impress 
on  me  the  seal  of  His  own  nature.     I  see  this  to  be  my  privilege.    Oh 


»  A  letter  to  his  mother,  dated  December  15,  185 1. 


124  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

may  I  be  filled  with  His  Spirit,  and  grow  in  grace  until  I  reach  '  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ.' 

"  I  am  happy  •  not  without  trial,  anxiety  or  care  ;  but  by  the 
grace  of  God  I  no  longer  bear  it  all  myself.  '  The  Lord  gave,  and  the 
Lord  hath  taken  away.'  .  .  . 

We  will  praise  Him  for  all  that  is  past, 
And  trust  Him  for  all  that's  to  come. 

"  Trusting  God  does  not  deprive  one  of  feeling  or  deaden  our 
natural  sensibihties,  but  it  enables  us  to  compare  our  trials  with  our 
mercies  and  to  say,  '  Yet,  notwithstanding,  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord, 
I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.'  It  enables  us  to  see  .  .  .  the 
Refiner  watching  the  fire,  and  be  thankful. 

"  '  Our  fathers  trusted  in  Thee  .  .  .  and  Thou  didst  deliver  them,' 
In  Thee,  0  God,  put  I  my  trust." 

To  his  sister  he  opened  his  heart  more  freely.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  eariier  part  of  the  letter  has  not  been 
preserved.  It  is  dated  December  i6,  1851,  and  begins  in 
medias  res  : 

For  some  days  I  was  as  wretched  as  heart  could  wish.  It  seemed 
as  if  I  had  no  power  in  prayer  nor  relish  for  it ;  and  instead  of  throwing 
my  care  on  Him  I  kept  it  all  to  myself  until  I  could  endure  it  no  longer. 

Well,  on  Sunday  I  felt  no  desire  to  go  to  the  Meeting  and  was  tempted 
very  much.  Satan  seemed  to  come  in  as  a  flood  and  I  was  forced  to 
cry :  "  Save,  Lord ;  I  perish."  Still  Satan  suggested, "  You  never  used 
to  be  tried  as  you  have  been  lately.  You  cannot  be  in  the  right  path, 
or  God  would  help  and  bless  you  more,"  and  so  on,  until  I  felt  inclined 
to  give  it  all  up. 

But,  thank  God,  the  way  of  duty  is  the  way  of  safety.  I  went  to 
the  Meeting  after  all,  as  miserable  as  could  be  ;  but  did  not  come  away 
so.  One  hymn  quite  cut  me  to  the  heart.  I  was  thankful  that  prayer 
followed,  for  I  could  not  keep  back  my  tears.     But  the  load  was  lighter. 

In  the  afternoon  as  I  was  sitting  alone  in  the  Surgery  I  began  to 
reflect  on  the  love  of  God  ;  His  goodness  and  my  return  ;  the  number 
of  blessings  He  has  granted  me  ;  and  how  small  my  trials  are  compared 
with  those  some  are  called  to  endure.  He  thoroughly  softened  and 
humbled  me.  His  love  melted  my  icy,  frost-bound  soul,  and  sincerely 
did  I  pray  for  pardon  for  my  ungrateful  conduct. 

Yes,  He  has  humbled  me  and  shown  me  what  I  was,  revealing 
Himself  as  a  present,  a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble.  And 
though  He  does  not  deprive  me  of  feeling  in  my  trial.  He  enables  me 
to  sing,  "  Yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my 


THAT  I  MAY  WIN  CHRIST  125 

salvation"    Thus  I  do  rejoice  by  His  Grace,  and  will  rejoice,  and  praise 
Him  while  He  lends  me  breath  : 

And  when  my  voice  is  lost  in  death. 
Praise  shall  employ  my  nobler  powers  : 
My  daj^s  of  praise  shall  ne'er  be  past. 
While  life,  and  thought,  and  being  laist, 
Or  immortahty  endures. 

Now  I  am  happy  in  my  Saviour's  love.  I  can  thank  Him  tor  all, 
even  the  most  painful  experiences  of  the  past,  and  trust  Him  without 
fear  for  all  that  is  to  come. 


CHAPTER   X 

FROM   FAITH   TO   FAITH 

January-March  1852.    Aet,  19. 

"  I  NEVER  made  a  sacrifice,"  said  Hudson  Taylor  in  later 
years,  looking  back  over  a  life  in  which  to  an  unusual  extent 
this  element  predominated.  But  what  he  said  was  true. 
For  as  in  the  case  in  point,  the  first  great  sacrifice  he  was 
privileged  to  make  for  China,  the  compensations  that  followed 
were  so  real  and  lasting  that  he  came  to  see  that  giving  up 
is  inevitably  receiving  when  one  is  dealing  heart  to  heart 
with  God. 

It  was  so,  very  manifestly,  this  winter.  In  the  hour  of 
trial,  a  step  of  faith  had  been  taken  and  a  victory  won  that 
made  it  possible  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  lead  him  on.  Not 
outwardly  only  but  inwardly  he  had  accepted  the  will  of 
God,  giving  up  what  seemed  his  best  and  highest,  the  love 
that  had  become  part  of  his  very  life,  that  he  might  be  un- 
hindered in  serving  and  following  Christ.  The  sacrifice  was 
great,  but  the  reward  far  greater. 

"  Unspeakable  joy,"  he  tells  us,  "  all  day  long  and  every  day  was 
my  happy  experience.  God,  even  my  God,  was  a  living,  bright 
Reality,  and  all  I  had  to  do  was  joyful  service." 

A  new  tone  is  perceptible  about  his  letters,  which  are 
less  introspective  from  this  time  onward  and  more  fuU  of 
missionary  purpose.  China  comes  to  the  front  again  in 
all  his  thinking,  and  there  is  a  quickened  longing  for  like- 
ness to  Christ  and  unbroken  fellowship  with  Him.     Jesus 

126 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  127 

Himself  was  filling  the  empty  place  and  drawing  His  servant 
on  to  deeper  love  and  closer  following. 

"  I  feel  my  need  of  more  holiness,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister  early  in 
the  New  Year,  "  and  conformity  to  Him  who  has  loved  us  and  washed 
us  in  His  blood.  Love  so  amazing  should  indeed  cause  us  to  give  our 
bodies  and  spirits  to  Him  as  living  sacrifices.  .  .  .  Oh,  I  wish  I  were 
ready  !  I  long  to  be  engaged  in  the  work.  Pray  for  me,  that  I  may 
be  made  more  useful  here  and  fitted  for  extended  usefulness  hereafter." 

And  again  a  few  weeks  later  : 

I  almost  wish  I  had  a  hundred  bodies.  They  should  all  be  devoted 
to  my  Saviour  in  the  missionary  cause.  But  this  is  foolishness.  I 
have  almost  more  than  I  can  do  to  manage  one,  it  is  so  self-willed, 
earthly-minded,  fleshly.  Constantly  I  am  grieving  my  dear  Saviour 
who  shed  for  me  His  precious  blood,  forgetting  Him  who  never  has 
relaxed  His  watchful  care  and  protection  over  me  from  the  earliest 
moment  of  my  existence.  I  am  astonished  at  the  Httleness  of  my 
gratitude  and  love  to  Him,  and  confounded  by  His  long-suffering 
mercy.  Pray  for  me  that  I  may  Hve  more  and  more  to  His  praise,  be 
more  devoted  to  Him,  incessant  in  labours  in  His  cause,  fitted  for 
China,  ripened  for  glory. 

But  though  he  was  happy  and  full  of  blessing,  his  mother 
at  home  was  not  a  little  troubled.  She  had  a  good  idea  by 
this  time  of  his  surroundings  at  Drainside,  and  read  between 
the  lines  of  his  own  cheery  letters.  It  distressed  her  to 
think  of  what  seemed  unnecessary  privations,  especially 
when  she  learned  from  others  that  he  was  looking  pale  and 
thin. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  make  yourself  anxious  about  me,"  he  wrote  in 
January.  "  I  think  it  is  because  I  have  begun  to  wear  a  larger  coat  that 
everybody  says,  *  How  poorly  and  thin  you  look  ! '  However,  as  you 
want  to  know  everything,  I  have  had  a  heavy  cold  .  .  .  that  lasted 
a  week.  But  since  then  I  have  been  as  well  as  ever  in  my  life,  I  eat 
like  a  horse,  sleep  like  a  top  and  have  the  spirits  of  a  lark.  I  do  not 
know  that  I  have  any  anxiety  save  to  be  more  holy  and  useful. 

"I  was  in  Garden  Street  on  Sunday.  We  seemed  welcome  and  were 
heard  with  great  attention.  When  there,  it  would  save  me  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes'  walk  if  I  came  home  by  Drainside.^  But  I  always  go 
round  at  night,  though  ever  so  tired,  because  you  wish  it.  So  I  am 
sure  you  need  not  be  concerned  about  me.    As  to  my  health,  I  think 

'  Along  the  little  canal,  in  the  dark, 


128  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

sometimes  I  have  too  much ;  for  I  have  such  a  flow  of  spirits  !  and 
often  have  to  restrain  myself  from  idle  conversation  and  jokes.  '  In 
the  multitude  of  words  there  wanteth  not  sin.' 

"  Praise  God,  I  have  much  to  be  thankful  for.  '  The  lines  have 
fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant  places.'  Dr.  Hardey  talks  to  me  more  like  a 
friend  than  an  employer.  Of  course  I  know  how  to  keep  my  place. 
And  I  can  truly  say  I  am  thankful  for  the  reading  habits  you  im- 
planted in  me  that  make  me  more  or  less  independent  of  companions." 

But  the  one  he  sought  to  comfort  was  far  from  satisfied. 
He  v/as  well  apparently  for  the  moment,  and  happy  in  the 
Lord,  but  if  this  were  the  line  he  was  taking  up  what  would 
it  mean  for  the  future  ?  Yes,  the  future — that  was  the 
trouble.  In  the  light  of  present  privations  she  saw  with 
painful  clearness  all  that  life  in  China  might  bring.  And 
he  was  her  only  son. 

Ah,  that  shrinking  of  mother-hearts  !  God  only  who 
made  us  fully  understands.  "  He  that  spared  not  His  own 
Son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,"  how  shall  He  not 
fathom  the  depth  of  even  that  anguish.  Yes,  He  has  borne 
it  too.  God  Himself  suffered  most  for  a  sinning,  sorrowing 
world,  and  He  does  not  forget.  He  knows  all  it  costs  to 
give  up  home  and  loved  ones  and  go  alone  to  earth's  dark 
places  to  lay  down  life  itself,  it  may  be,  in  seeking  souls  for 
whom  the  Saviour  died.  And  He  knows  too  the  sacrifice 
of  those  who  cannot  go,  but  send  their  dearest — life  of  their 
life,  soul  of  their  soul — and  with  bleeding,  thankful  hearts 
look  up  into  His  face  saying,  and  saying  truly,  "  I  have 
nothing  too  precious  for  Jesus." 

HE  did  not  blame  this  mother  that  for  a  moment  she 
seemed  to  waver.  It  is  only  "  through  the  Eternal  Spirit  " 
such  sacrifices  can  ever  be  unreservedly  offered.  And  for 
the  passing  hesitation  we  may  well  be  thankful,  seeing  it 
called  forth  the  following,  that  might  not  otherwise  have 
been  written  : 

Do  not  let  anything  unsettle  you,  dear  Mother.  Missionary  work 
is  indeed  the  noblest  mortals  can  engage  in,  and  angels  would  be  proud, 
if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  if  they  could  be  permitted  to  share  so 
glorious  an  undertaking.  We  certainly  cannot  be  insensible  to  the 
ties  of  nature,  but  should  we  not  rejoice  when  we  have  anything  we 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  129 

can  give  up  for  the  Saviour  ?  You  would  be  far  more  unsettled  if  I 
were  to  turn  away  from  this  work,  and  if  the  Lord  were  to  withdraw 
His  restraining  grace  and  I  fell  into  sin  in  consequence,  would  you  not  ? 
It  is  all  of  His  mercy  that  I  am  preserved  from  many  of  the  pitfalls 
that  ensnare  other  young  men. 

As  to  my  health,  I  think  I  never  was  so  well  and  hearty  in  my  life. 
The  winds  here  are  extremely  searching,  but  as  I  always  wrap  up  well 
I  am  pretty  secure.  .  .  .  The  cold  weather  gives  me  a  good  appetite, 
and  it  would  be  dear  economy  to  stint  myself.  So  I  take  as  much 
plain,  substantial  food  as  I  need,  but  waste  nothing  on  luxuries.  In 
going  to  my  lodgings  I  have  somehow  got  into  one  particular  route, 
and  always  go  the  same  way  and  cross  at  the  same  place.  I  have  never 
passed  the  gate  once,  and  at  night  the  reflection  of  the  lamps  and 
windows  opposite  are  always  shining  on  the  Drain. 

I  have  found  some  brown  biscuits  which  are  really  as  cheap  as 
bread,  eighteen  pence  a  stone,  and  much  nicer.  For  breakfast  I  have 
biscuit  and  herring,  which  is  cheaper  than  butter  (three  for  a  penny, 
and  half  a  one  is  enough)  with  coffee.  For  dinner  I  have  at  present 
a  prune-and-apple  pie.  Prunes  are  two  or  three  pence  a  pound  and 
apples  tenpence  a  peck.  I  use  no  sugar  but  loaf,  which  I  powder, 
and  at  fourpence  halfpenny  a  pound  I  find  it  is  cheaper  than  the 
coarser  kind.  Sometimes  I  have  roast  potatoes  and  tongue,  which  is 
as  inexpensive  as  any  other  meat.  For  tea  I  have  biscuit  and  apples. 
I  take  no  supper,  or  occasionally  a  little  biscuit  and  apple.  Sometimes 
I  have  a  rice  pudding,  a  few  peas  boiled  instead  of  potatoes,  and  now 
and  then  some  fish.  By  being  wide  awake,  I  can  get  cheese  at  four- 
pence  to  sixpence  a  pound  that  is  better  than  we  often  have  at  home 
for  eightpence.  Now  I  see  rhubarb  and  lettuce  in  the  market,  so  I 
shall  soon  have  another  change.  I  pickled  a  penny  red  cabbage  with 
three  halfpence  worth  of  vinegar,  which  made  me  a  large  jar-full.  So 
you  see,  at  little  expense  I  enjoy  many  comforts.  To  these  add  a 
home  where  every  want  is  anticipated  ,and  "  the  peace  of  God  which 
passeth  all  understanding,"  and  if  I  were  not  happy  and  contented  I 
should  deserve  to  be  miserable. 

I  am  enlarging  on  these  trifles,  though  they  are  not  worth  writing 
about,  because  I  know  they  will  interest  you  and  perhaps  help  you  to 
feel  more  settled  about  me.  If  not,  please  tell  me  and  I  will  not  do 
so  any  more.  .  .  . 

Continue  to  pray  for  me,  dear  Mother.  Though  comfortable  as 
regards  temporal  matters,  and  happy  and  thankful,  I  feel  I  need  your 
prayers.  ...  Oh  Mother,  I  cannot  tell  you,  I  cannot  describe  how  I 
long  to  be  a  missionary ;  to  carry  the  Glad  Tidings  to  poor,  perishing 
sinners ;  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  Him  who  died  for  me.  I  feel  as 
if  for  this  I  could  give  up  everything,  every  idol,  however  dear. 

Think,  Mother,  of  twelve  millions — a  number  so  great  that  it  is 

K 


130  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

impossible  to  realise  it— yes,  twelve  million  souls  in  China,  every  year, 
passing  without  God  and  without  hope  into  eternity.  Oh,  what  need 
for  earnestness  in  the  Church  and  in  individual  believers  !  Do  we 
not  deserve,  by  our  worldly-mindedness,  our  indolence,  our  apathy, 
our  ingratitude  and  disobedience  to  the  Divine  command,  "  Go  teach 
all  nations,"  do  we  not  deserve  to  experience  little  of  the  love  of  God 
and  the  peace  of  Christianity  ? 

Oh,  it  is  a  noble,  an  honourable  calling  !  I  feel  my  utter  unworthi- 
ness  and  unfitness  for  it.  I  want  more  of  the  Divine  hfe,  more  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  make  me  a  faithful  servant  and  witness.  Oh  for  more 
grace,  love,  faith,  zeal,  holiness  ! 

Please  tell  Father  that  I  have  been  going  to  write  to  him  several 
times  this  week  to  say,  If  he  will  only  go  to  China  and  preach  the 
Gospel,  I  will  work  like  a  slave,  and  live  cheap,  and  send  him  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  pounds  a  year  myself  until  he  gets  established.  Or  if 
he  prefers  it  I  will  give  up  my  situation  and  come  home  and  manage 
the  business  for  him  for  five  or  six  years.  Tell  him  the  voyage  would 
probably  lengthen  his  life.  He  has  a  gift  for  languages.  The  Rev. 
William  Bums  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Chinese  only  six  months 
after  landing.  Does  he  not  think  there  are  plenty  of  Christians  in 
Barnsley  ?  But  who  cares  for  China  ?  They  are  dying,  dying,  dying, 
250,000  every  week,  without  the  knowledge  of  God,  of  Christ,  of 
salvation.  Oh,  let  us  look  with  compassion  on  this  multitude  !  God 
has  been  merciful  to  us  :  let  us  be  like  Him.  The  cry  comes  "  Help 
us,  Help  us  !  Will  no  man  care  for  our  souls  ?  "    Can  we  refuse  ? 

Shall  we  whose  souls  are  lighted 

With  wisdom  from  on  high  ; 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted 

The  lamp  of  Life  deny  ? 

I  must  conclude.  Would  you  not  give  up  all  for  Jesus  who  died 
for  you  .''  Yes,  Mother,  I  know  you  would.  God  be  with  you  and 
comfort  you. 

Must  I  leave  as  soon  as  I  can  save  money  enough  to  go  ?  I  feel  as 
if  I  could  not  live,  if  something  is  not  done  for  China. 

What  a  glimpse  is  here  afforded  into  his  deeper  life  during 
that  winter  at  Drainside  !  "I  cannot  tell,  I  cannot  describe 
hoM'  I  long  to  be  a  missionary,  to  carry  the  Glad  Tidings 
to  poor,  perishing  sinners.  .  .  .  For  this  I  could  give  up 
everything,  every  idol,  however  dear  ...  7  feel  as  if  I 
could  not  live  if  something  is  not  done  for  China." 

This  was  no  mere  emotion,  no  superficial  interest  that 
might  give  place  to  considerations  of  personal  advantage. 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  131 

It  was  not  that  he  had  taken  up  missionary  work  as  a  con- 
genial branch  of  Christian  activity,  but  that  the  need  of 
the  perishing  in  heathen  lands,  the  need  and  longing  of  the 
heart  of  Christ — "  them  also  I  must  bring  " — had  gripped 
him  and  held  him  fast.  He  believed  that  the  heathen  are 
perishing,  and  that  without  a  knowledge  of  the  one  and 
only  Saviour  they  must  be  eternally  lost.  He  believed  that 
it  was  in  view  of  this,  and  because  of  His  infinite  love,  that 
God  had  given  "  His  only-begotten  Son  that  whosoever 
beheveth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life."  And  these  convictions  pledged  him  to  the  only  Hfe 
possible  in  view  of  such  stupendous  facts — a  life  wholly 
given  to  making  that  great  redemption  known,  especially 
to  those  who  had  never  heard. 

Yet  much  as  he  longed  to  go,  and  go  at  once,  there  were 
considerations  that  held  him  back. 

"  To  me  it  was  a  very  grave  matter/'  he  wrote  of  that  winter,  "  to 
contemplate  going  out  to  China,  far  from  all  human  aid,  there  to  depend 
upon  the  living  God  alone  for  protection,  supplies,  and  help  of  every 
kind.  I  felt  that  one's  spiritual  muscles  required  strengthening  for 
such  an  undertaking.  There  was  no  doubt  that  if  faith  did  not  fail, 
God  would  not  fail.  But  what  if  one's  faith  should  prove  insufficient  ? 
I  had  not  at  that  time  learned  that  even  '  if  we  believe  not,  yet  He 
abideth  faithful.  He  cannot  deny  Himself.'  It  was  consequently  a 
very  serious  question  to  my  mind,  not  whether  He  was  faithful,  but 
whether  I  had  strong  enough  faith  to  warrant  my  embarking  in  the 
enterprise  set  before  me. 

"  '  When  I  get  out  to  China,'  I  thought  to  myself,  '  I  shall  have  no 
claim  on  any  one  for  anything.  My  only  claim  will  be  on  God. 
How  important  to  learn,  before  leaving  England,  to  move  man 
through  God  by  prayer  alone.'  " 

He  knew  that  faith  was  the  one  power  that  could  remove 
mountains,  conquer  every  difficulty  and  accomplish  the 
impossible.  But  had  he  the  right  kind  of  faith  ?  Could  he 
stand  alone  in  China  ?  Much  as  he  longed  to  be  a  missionary, 
would  such  faith  as  he  possessed  be  sufficient  to  carry  him 
through  all  that  must  be  faced  ?  What  had  it  carried  him 
through  already,  here  at  home  ? 

He  thankfully  reahsed  that  faith,  the  faith  he  longed 
for,  was  a  "  gift  of  God,"  and  that  it  might  "  grow  ex- 


132  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

ceedingly."  But  for  growth,  exercise  was  needed,  and 
exercise  of  faith  was  obviously  impossible  apart  from  trial. 
Then  welcome  trial,  welcome  anything  that  would  increase 
and  strengthen  this  precious  gift,  proving  to  his  own  heart 
at  any  rate  that  he  had  faith  of  the  sort  that  would  really 
stand  and  grow. 

And  here  it  should  be  remembered  that  in  taking  this 
attitude  before  the  Lord,  Hudson  Taylor  was  wholly  earnest 
and  sincere.  He  was  bringing  "  all  the  tithes  into  the 
storehouse,"  a  most  important  consideration ;  living  a 
life  that  made  it  possible  for  him  to  exercise  faith  to  which 
God  could  respond  in  blessing.  In  a  word,  there  was  no 
hindrance  in  himself  to  the  answer  to  his  prayers  ;  and 
experiences  followed  that  have  been  made  an  encouragement 
to  thousands  the  wide  world  over. 

The  story  though  well  known  will  bear  repeating  here, 
illustrating  as  it  does  the  only  principle  of  growth  in  spiritual 
thmgs — "  From  faith  to  faith  "  ;  the  law  reiterated  by  our 
Lord  Himself — "  He  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given." 

"  To  learn  before  leaving  England  to  move  man  through 
God  by  prayer  alone,"  this  and  nothing  less  was  the  object 
Hudson  Taylor  had  before  him  now,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  he  came  to  see  a  simple,  natural  way  of  practising 
this  lesson. 

At  Hull  my  kind  employer,  always  busy,  wished  me  to  remind  him 
whenever  my  salary  became  due.  This  I  determined  not  to  do  directly, 
but  to  ask  that  God  would  bring  the  fact  to  his  recollection,  and  thus 
encourage  me  by  answering  prayer. 

At  one  time  as  the  day  drew  near  for  the  payment  of  a  quarter's 
salary  I  was  as  usual  much  in  prayer  about  it.  The  time  arrived,  but 
Dr.  Hardey  made  no  allusion  to  the  matter.  I  continued  praying. 
Days  passed  on  and  he  did  not  remember,  until  at  length  on  settling 
up  my  weekly  accounts  one  Saturday  night,  I  found  myself  possessed 
of  only  one  remaining  coin,  a  half-crown  piece.  Stilly,  I  had  hitherto 
known  no  lack,  and  I  continued  praying. 

That  Sunday  was  a  very  happy  one.  As  usual  my  heart  was  full 
and  brimming  over  with  blessing.  After  attending  Divine  Service 
in  the  morning,  my  afternoons  and  evenings  were  taken  up  with  Gospel 
work  in  the  various  lodging-houses  I  was  accustomed  to  visit  in  the 
lowest  part  of  the  town.    At  such  times  it  almost  seemed  to  me  as  if 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  133 

heaven  were  begun  below,  and  that  all  that  could  be  looked  for  was  an 
enlargement  of  one's  capacity  for  joy,  not  a  truer  filling  than  I  possessed. 

After  concluding  my  last  service  about  ten  o'clock  that  night,  a 
poor  man  asked  me  to  go  and  pray  with  his  wife,  saying  that  she  was 
dying.  I  readily  agreed,  and  on  the  way  to  his  house  asked  him  why 
he  had  not  sent  for  the  priest,  as  his  accent  told  me  he  was  an  Irishman. 
He  had  done  so,  he  said,  but  the  priest  refused  to  come  without  a 
payment  of  eighteen  pence  which  the  man  did  not  possess,  as  the 
family  was  starving.  Immediately  it  occurred  to  my  mind  that  all 
the  money  I  had  in  the  world  was  the  solitary  half-crown,  and  that  it 
was  in  one  coin";  moreover,  that  while  the  basin  of  water-gruel  I  usually 
took  for  supper  was  awaiting  me,  and  there  was  sufficient  in  the  house 
for  breakfast  in  the  morning,  I  certainly  had  nothing  for  dinner  on 
the  coming  day. 

Somehow  or  other  there  was  at  once  a  stoppage  in  the  flow  of  joy 
in  my  heart.  But  instead  of  reproving  myself  I  began  to  reprove  the 
poor  man,  telling  him  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  have  allowed  matters 
to  get  into  such  a  state  as  he  described,  and  that  he  ought  to  have 
appHed  to  the  relieving  officer.  His  answer  was  that  he  had  done  so, 
and  was  told  to  come  at  eleven  o'clock  the  next  morning,  but  that  he 
feared  his  wife  might  not  live  through  the  night. 

"  Ah,"  thought  I,  "  if  only  I  had  two  shillings  and  a  sixpence  instead 
of  this  half-crown,  how  gladly  would  I  give  these  poor  people  a  shilling  !  " 
But  to  part  with  the  half-crown  was  far  from  my  thoughts.  I  little 
dreamed  that  the  truth  of  the  matter  simply  was  that  I  could  trust 
God  plus  one-and-sixpehce,  but  was  not  prepared  to  trust  Him  only, 
without  any  money  at  all  in  my  pocket. 

My  conductor  led  me  into  a  court,  down  which  I  followed  him  with 
some  degree  of  nervousness.  I  had  found  myself  there  before,  and 
at  my  last  visit  had  been  roughly  handled.  My  tracts  had  been  torn 
to  pieces  and  such  a  warning  given  me  not  to  come  again  that  I  felt 
more  than  a  little  concerned.  Still,  it  was  the  path  of  duty  and  I 
followed  on.  Up  a  miserable  flight  of  stairs  into  a  wretched  room  he 
led  me ;  and  oh,  what  a  sight  there  presented  itself !  Four  or  five 
children  stood  about,  their  sunken  cheeks  and  temples  all  telling 
unmistakably  the  story  of  slow  starvation,  and  lying  on  a  wretched 
pallet  was  a  poor,  exhausted  mother,  with  a  tiny  infant  thirty-six 
hours  old  moaning  rather  than  crying  at  her  side,  for  it  too  seemed 
spent  and  failing. 

"  Ah  !  "  thought  I,  "  if  I  had  two  shillings  and  a  sixpence,  instead  of 
half-a-crown,  how  gladly  should  they  have  one-and-sixpence  of  it." 
But  still  a  wretched  unbelief  prevented  me  from  obeying  the  impulse 
to  relieve  their  distress  at  the  cost  of  all  I  possessed. 

It  will  scarcely  seem  strange  that  I  was  unable  to  say  much  to 
comfort  these  poor  people.     I  needed  comfort  myself.     I  began  to 


134  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

tell  them,  however,  that  they  must  not  be  cast  down  ;  that  though 
their  circumstances  were  very  distressing  there  was  a  kind  and  loving 
Father  in  heaven.  But  something  within  me  cried,  "  You  hypocrite  ! 
telling  these  unconverted  people  about  a  kind  and  loving  Father  in 
heaven,and  not  prepared  yourself  to  trust  Him  without  a  half-a-crown." 

I  was  nearly  choked.  How  gladly  would  I  have  compromised  with 
conscience,  if  I  had  had  a  florin  and  a  sixpence  !  I  would  have  given 
the  florin  thankfully  and  kept  the  rest.  But  I  was  not  yet  prepared 
to  trust  in  God  alone,  without  the  sixpence. 

To  talk  was  impossible  under  these  circumstances,  yet  strange  to 
say  I  thought  I  should  have  no  difficulty  in  praying.  Prayer  was  a 
delightful  occupation  in  those  days.  Time  thus  spent  never  seemed 
wearisome  and  I  knew  no  lack  of  words.  I  seemed  to  think  that  all 
I  should  have  to  do  would  be  to  kneel  down  and  pray,  and  that  relief 
would  come  to  them  and  to  myself  together. 

"  You  asked  me  to  come  and  pray  with  your  wife,"  I  said  to  the 
man,  "  let  us  pray."    And  I  knelt  down. 

But  no  sooner  had  I  opened  my  lips  with  "  Our  Father  who  art  in 
heaven,"  than  conscience  said  within,  "  Dare  you  mock  God  ?  Dare 
you  kneel  down  and  call  Him  Father  with  that  half-crown  in  your 
pocket  ?  " 

Such  a  time  of  conflict  then  came  upon  me  as  I  have  never 
experienced  before  or  since.  How  I  got  through  that  form  of  prayer 
I  know  not,  and  whether  the  words  uttered  were  connected  or  dis- 
connected I  cannot  tell.  But  I  arose  from  my  knees  in  great  distress 
of  mind. 

The  poor  father  turned  to  me  and  said,  "  You  see  what  a  terrible 
state  we  are  in,  sir.    If  you  can  help  us,  for  God's  sake  do  !  " 

At  that  moment  the  word  flashed  into  my  mind,  "Give  to  him  that 
asketh  of  thee."    And  in  the  word  of  a  King  there  is  power. 

I  put  my  hand  into  my  pocket  and  slowly  drawing  out  the  half- 
crown,  gave  it  to  the  man,  telling  him  that  it  might  seem  a  small 
matter  for  me  to  relieve  them,  seeing  that  I  was  comparatively  well 
off,  but  that  in  parting  with  that  coin  I  was  giving  him  my  all ;  what 
I  had  been  trying  to  tell  them  was  indeed  true — GOD  really  was  a 
FATHER  and  might  be  trusted.  The  joy  all  came  back  in  full  flood- 
tide  to  my  heart.  I  could  say  anything  and  feel  it  then,  and  the 
hindrance  to  blessing  was  gone — ^gone,  I  trust,  forever. 

Not  only  was  the  poor  woman's  life  saved  ;  but  my  life,  as  I  fully 
realised,  had  been  saved  too.  It  might  have  been  a  wreck— would 
have  been,  probably,  as  a  Christian  life — had  not  grace  at  that  time 
conquered,  and  the  striving  of  God's  Spirit  been  obeyed. 

I  well  remember  how  that  night,  as  I  went  home  to  my  lodgings, 
my  heart  was  as  light  as  my  pocket.  The  dark,  deserted  streets 
resounded  with  a  hymn  of  praise  that  I  could  not  restrain.     When  I 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  135 

took  my  basin  of  gruel  before  retiring,  I  would  not  have  exchanged  it 
for  a  prince's  feast.  I  reminded  the  Lord  as  I  knelt  at  my  bedside  of 
His  own  Word,  "  He  that  giveth  to  the  poor  lendeth  to  the  Lord  "  ; 
I  asked  Him  not  to  let  my  loan  be  a  long  one,  or  I  should  have  no 
dinner  next  day.  And  with  peace  within  and  peace  without,  I  spent 
a  happy,  restful  night. 

Next  morning  for  breakfast  my  plate  of  porridge  remained,  and 
before  it  was  finished  the  postman's  knock  was  heard  at  the  door.  I 
was  not  in  the  habit  of  receiving  letters  on  Monday,  as  my  parents  and 
most  of  my  friends  refrained  from  posting  on  Saturday,  so  that  I  was 
somewhat  surprised  when  the  landlady  came  in  holding  a  letter  or 
packet  in  her  wet  hand  covered  by  her  apron.  I  looked  at  the  letter, 
but  could  not  make  out  the  handwriting.  It  was  either  a  strange 
hand  or  a  feigned  one,  and  the  postmark  was  blurred.  Where  it 
came  from  I  could  not  tell.  On  opening  the  envelope  I  found  nothing 
written  within ;  but  inside  a  sheet  of  blank  paper  was  folded  a  pair  of 
kid  gloves,  from  which,  as  I  opened  them  in  astonishment,  half-a- 
sovereign  fell  to  the  ground. 

"  Praise  the  Lord,"  I  exclaimed.  "  Four  hundred  per  cent  for  twelve 
hours'  investment — that  is  good  interest !  How  glad  the  merchants 
of  Hull  would  be  if  they  could  lend  their  money  at  such  a  rate."  Then 
and  there  I  determined  that  a  bank  that  could  not  break  should  have 
my  savings  or  earnings,  as  the  case  might  be — a  determination  I  have 
not  yet  learned  to  regret. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  often  my  mind  has  recurred  to  this  incident,  or 
all  the  help  it  has  been  to  me  in  circumstances  of  difficulty  in  after- 
life. If  we  are  faithful  to  God  in  little  things,  we  shall  gain  experience 
and  strength  that  will  be  helpful  to  us  in  the  more  serious  trials  of  life. 

But  this  was  not  the  end  of  the  story,  nor  was  it  the  only 
answer  to  prayer  that  was  to  confirm  his  faith  at  this  time. 
For  the  chief  difficulty  still  remained.  Dr.  Hardey  had  not 
remembered  ;  and  though  prayer  was  unremitting,  other 
matters  appeared  entirely  to  engross  his  attention.  It 
would  have  been  so  easy  to  remind  him.  But  what  then  of 
the  lesson  upon  the  acquirement  of  which  Hudson  Taylor 
felt  his  future  usefuhiess  depended — "  to  move  man  through 
God,  by  prayer  alone  "  ? 

"  This  remarkable  and  gracious  deliverance,"  he  continued,  "  was 
a  great  joy  to  me  as  well  as  a  strong  confirmation  of  faith.  But  of 
course  ten  shillings  however  economically  used  will  not  go  very  far, 
and  it  was  none  the  less  necessary  to  continue  in  prayer,  asking  that 
the  larger  supply  which  was  still  due  might  be  remembered  and  paid. 


136  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

All  my  petitions,  however,  appeared  to  remain  unanswered,  and  before 
a  fortnight  elapsed  I  found  myself  pretty  much  in  the  same  position 
that  I  had  occupied  on  the  Sunday  night  already  made  so  memor- 
able. Meanwhile  I  continued  pleading  with  God  more  and  more 
earnestly  that  He  would  Himself  remind  Dr.  Hardey  that  my  salary 
was  due. 

'•'  Of  course  it  was  not  the  want  of  money  that  distressed  me.  That 
could  have  been  had  at  any  time  for  the  asking.  But  the  question 
uppermost  in  my  mind  was  this :  '  Can  I  go  to  China  ?  or  will  my 
want  of  faith  and  power  with  God  prove  so  serious  an  obstacle  as  to 
preclude  my  entering  upon  this  much-prized  service  ?  ' 

"  As  the  week  drew  to  a  close  I  felt  exceedingly  embarrassed.  There 
was  not  only  myself  to  consider.  On  Saturday  night  a  payment 
would  be  due  to  my  Christian  landlady,  which  I  knew  she  could  not 
well  dispense  with.  Ought  I  not,  for  her  sake,  to  speak  about  the 
matter  of  the  salary  ?  Yet  to  do  so  would  be,  to  myself  at  any  rate, 
the  admission  that  I  was  not  fitted  to  undertake  a  missionary  enter- 
prise. I  gave  nearly  the  whole  of  Thursday  and  Friday,  all  the  time 
not  occupied  in  my  necessary  employment,  to  earnest  wrestling  with 
God  in  prayer.  But  still  on  Saturday  morning  I  was  in  the  same 
position  as  before.  And  now  my  earnest  cry  was  for  guidance  as 
to  whether  I  should  still  continue  to  wait  the  Father's  time.  As 
far  as  I  could  judge  I  received  the  assurance  that  to  wait  His  time 
was  best,  and  that  God  in  some  way  or  other  would  interpose  on 
my  behalf.  So  I  waited,  my  heart  being  now  at  rest  and  the  burden 
gone. 

"  About  five  o'clock  that  Saturday  afternoon,  when  Dr.  Hardey  had 
finished  writing  his  prescriptions,  his  last  circuit  for  the  day  being  taken, 
he  threw  himself  back  in  his  arm-chair,  as  he  was  wont,  and  began  to 
speak  of  the  things  of  God.  He  was  a  truly  Christian  man,  and  many 
seasons  of  happy  fellowship  we  had  together.  I  was  busily  watching, 
at  the  time,  a  pan  in  which  a  decoction  was  boiling  that  required  a 
good  deal  of  attention.  It  was  indeed  fortunate  for  me  that  it  was  so, 
for  without  any  obvious  connection  with  what  had  been  going  on,  all 
at  once  he  said  : 

" '  By  the  by,  Taylor,  is  not  your  salary  due  again  ?  ' 

"  My  emotion  may  be  imagined.  I  had  to  swallow  two  or  three 
times  before  I  could  answer.  With  my  eye  fixed  on  the  pan  and  my 
back  to  the  doctor,  I  told  him  as  quietly  as  I  could  that  it  was  overdue 
some  little  time.  How  thankful  I  felt  at  that  moment !  God  surely 
had  heard  my  prayer  and  caused  him  in  this  time  of  my  great  need  to 
remember  the  salary  without  any  word  or  suggestion  from  me.  He 
replied, 

"  '  Oh,  I  am  so  sorry  you  did  not  remind  me  !  You  know  how  busy 
I  am.     I  wish  I  had  thought  of  it  a  little  sooner,  for  only  this  afternoon 


FROM  FAITH  TO  FAITH  137 

I  sent  all  the  money  I  had  to  the  bank.  Otherwise  I  would  pay  you 
at  once.' 

"  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  revulsion  of  feeling  caused  by  this 
unexpected  statement.  I  knew  not  what  to  do.  Fortunately  for  me 
the  pan  boiled  up  and  I  had  a  good  reason  for  rushing  with  it  from  the 
room.  Glad  indeed  I  was  to  get  away  and  keep  out  of  sight  until 
after  Dr.  Hardey  had  returned  to  his  house,  and  most  thankful  that  he 
had  not  perceived  my  emotion. 

"  As  soon  as  he  was  gone  I  had  to  seek  my  little  sanctum  and  pour 
out  my  heart  before  the  Lord  for  some  time  before  calmness,  and  more 
than  calmness,  thankfulness  and  joy  were  restored.  I  felt  that  God 
had  His  own  way,  and  was  not  going  to  fail  me.  I  had  sought  to  know 
His  will  early  in  the  day,  and  as  far  as  I  could  judge  had  received 
guidance  to  wait  patiently.  And  now  God  was  going  to  work  for  me 
in  some  other  way. 

"  That  evening  was  spent,  as  my  Saturday  evenings  usually  were, 
in  reading  the  Word  and  preparing  the  subject  on  which  I  expected 
to  speak  in  the  various  lodging-houses  on  the  morrow.  I  waited 
perhaps  a  little  longer  than  usual.  At  last  about  ten  o'clock,  there 
being  no  interruption  of  any  kind,  I  put  on  my  overcoat  and  was 
preparing  to  leave  for  home,  rather  thankful  to  know  that  by  that  time 
I  should  have  to  let  myself  in  with  the  latchkey,  as  my  landlady 
retired  early.  There  was  certainly  no  help  for  that  night.  But  perhaps 
God  would  interpose  for  me  by  Monday,  and  I  might  be  able  to  pay  my 
landlady  early  in  the  week  the  money  I  would  have  given  her  before 
had  it  been  possible. 

"  Just  as  I  was  about  to  turn  down  the  gas,  I  heard  the  doctor's  step 
in  the  garden  that  lay  between  the  dwelling-house  and  Surgery.  He 
was  laughing  to  himself  very  heartily,  as  though  greatly  amused. 
Entering  the  Surgery  he  asked  for  the  ledger,  and  told  me  that,  strange 
to  say,  one  of  his  richest  patients  had  just  come  to  pay  his  doctor's 
bill.  Was  it  not  an  odd  thing  to  do  ?  It  never  struck  me  that 
it  might  have  any  bearing  on  my  own  case,  or  I  might  have  felt  em- 
barrassed. But  looking  at  it  simply  from  the  position  of  an  un- 
interested spectator,  I  also  was  highly  amused  that  a  man  rolling  in 
wealth  should  come  after  ten  o'clock  at  night  to  pay  a  bill  which  he 
could  any  day  have  met  by  a  cheque  with  the  greatest  ease.  It 
appeared  that  somehow  or  other  he  could  not  rest  with  this  on  his 
mind,  and  had  been  constrained  to  come  at  that  unusual  hour  to 
discharge  his  liability. 

"  The  account  was  duly  receipted  in  the  ledger,  and  Dr.  Hardey  was 
about  to  leave,  when  suddenly  he  turned  and  handing  me  some  of  the 
banknotes  just  received,  said  to  my  surprise  and  thankfulness  : 

"  '  By  the  way,  Taylor,  you  might  as  well  take  these  notes.  I  have 
no  change,  but  can  give  you  the  balance  next  week.' 


138  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

'^  Again  I  was  left,  my  feelings  undiscovered,  to  go  back  to  my  little 
closet  and  praise  the  Lord  with  a  joyful  heart  that  after  all  /  might 
go  to  China.  To  me  this  incident  was  not  a  trivial  one  ;  and  to  recall 
it  sometimes,  in  circumstances  of  great  difficulty,  in  China  or  elsewhere, 
has  proved  no  small  comfort  and  strength." 


CHAPTER    XI 

IF   IT   BE   THOU,    BID   ME   COME 

March-September  1852.    Aet.  19-20. 

It  is  perhaps  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  the  hght  of 
these  experiences  the  importance  of  something  higher  far 
than  money,  in  relation  to  the  service  of  God,  began  to 
impress  Hudson  Taylor.  His  quiet  life  at  Drainside  was 
working  a  change  in  his  attitude  toward  many  things. 
There  were  memorable  hours  that  winter  in  which  he  saw 
from  the  divine  standpoint  as  never  before,  and  a  spirit 
shines  out  in  his  letters  of  the  early  spring  that  is  clearly 
traceable  to  the  trials  into  which  he  had  been  brought  and 
the  faith  and  prayer  that  overcame  them, 

"  I  feel  I  have  not  long  to  stay  in  this  country  now/'  he  wrote  to 
his  sister  on  March  i.  "  I  do  not  know  what  turn  Providence  is  about 
to  take,  but  I  think  some  change  is  coming,  and  I  am  forewarned  that 
I  may  be  prepared.  Pray  for  me  that  my  faith  fail  not  ...  I  am  so 
unworthy,  so  unfit  for  the  Lord's  service  !  But  that  will  only  make 
the  glory  more  entirely  His.  Oh  to  be  instrumental  in  bringing  many 
to  His  fold  ! 

"  I  feel  the  Lord  is  saying, '  If  I  open  the  door  or  bid  thee  go,  wilt 
thou  go,  even  if  thou  canst  not  see  the  way  clearly  ?  Wilt  thou  trust 
in  Me  ?  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Ye  are  of 
more  value  than  many  sparrows.'  I  do  not  feel  sure  that  He  does  not 
intend  me  to  give  up  my  situation  and  work  my  passage  out  to  China  : 
to  go  in  faith,  nothing  doubting.  I  am  waiting  patiently  on  Him  for 
guidance.  In  due  time  He  will  manifest  His  will,  and  then  He,  and 
He  alone,  can  give  me  grace  to  fulfil  it." 

Only  two  weeks  previously  he  had  written  to  his  mother. 
"  Must  I  leave  as  soon  as  I  can  save  money  enough  to  go  ?  " 

139 


140  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Now  it  was  no  longer  a  question  of  money.     It  was  the  far 
more  important  question  of  souls. 

"  Oh  Amelia/'  he  continued,  "  my  heart  is  bound  to  you  by  ten 
thousand  ties  !  But  if  my  Saviour  calls,  shall  I  not  obey  ?  If  He 
has  left  His  throne  in  glory  to  come  and  bleed  and  die  for  us,  shall  we 
not  leave  all,  all,  and  follow  Him  ?  If  I  stay  here  another  two  years 
and  save  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  to  pay  my  expenses  to  China,  I  shall 
land  there  no  better  off  than  if  I  go  at  once  and  work  my  passage  out. 
In  two  years  there  will  die  in  that  land  at  least  twenty-four  million 
people.  ...  In  six  or  eight  months  I  should  be  able  to  talk  a  little 
Chinese.  And  if  I  could  instruct  in  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  one  poor 
sinner,  and  the  Spirit  accompanied  the  word  with  power  to  his  soul 
and  he  were  saved — to  all  eternity  he  would  be  happy,  praising  the 
Redeemer.  Then  what  would  the  hardships  of  a  four  or  five  months' 
voyage  weigh  in  comparison  ?  These  '  light  afflictions  which  are  but 
for  a  moment '  work  out  '  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory.'  " 

To  his  mother  also  he  wrote  a  characteristic  letter  about 
this  thought  of  working  his  passage  out  to  China.  His 
idea  was,  failing  a  berth  as  assistant  to  a  ship's  surgeon,  to 
go  as  a  sailor  before  the  mast,  and  he  had  fuUy  informed 
himself  as  to  all  that  would  be  involved.  Captain  Finch 
especially  had  warned  him  of  the  hardships  of  a  five  months' 
voyage  under  the  latter  conditions,  assuring  him  that  he 
could  never  stand  either  the  work  or  the  companionship 
that  must  faU  to  his  lot.  But  upon  examining  into  details 
Hudson  Taylor  found  nothing  to  daunt  his  faith  or  courage, 
and  the  very  fact  that  it  would  mean  sacrifice  to  the  point  of 
suffering  made  it  seem  all  the  more  worth  while — for  Jesus' 
sake. 

But  of  this  he  said  little  to  his  mother,  dwelling  rather 
upon  the  rich  compensations  both  in  this  life  and  in  the 
life  to  come. 

"  I  am  deeply  thankful,"  he  wrote,  referring  to  one  of  her  recent 
letters,  "  that  you  do  not  wish  to  recall  the  offering  you  made  of  me 
to  the  Lord.  Perhaps  He  means  to  try  our  sincerity  in  this  respect 
sooner  than  either  of  us  anticipated.  If  I  do  not  know  the  intensity 
of  a  mother's  love,  I  feel  so  much  the  strength  of  a  son's  love,  a  brother's 
love,  of  love  to  friends  and  brethren  in  the  Lord,  that  the  thought  of 
leaving  all  seems  like  tearing  away  part  of  one's  very  self.     But, 


IF  IT  BE  THOU,  BID  ME  COME  141 

praise  God,  I  know  something  also  of  a  Saviour's  love,  though  but 
Httle  yet.     He  is  to  me  a  satisfying  portion,  and  I  can  truly  say — 

I  all  on  earth  forsake, 
Its  wisdom,  fame  and  power, 
And  Thee  my  only  portion  make. 
My  Shield  and  Tower. 

''  Oh  Mother,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  unspeakably  happy  I  was  on 
Sunday  afternoon  while  singing  those  words  !  My  soul  was  over- 
whelmed with  heavenly  joys.  I  felt  I  had  nothing  to  give  up  worthy 
of  mention,  compared  with  what  I  had  to  receive.  I  could  not  refrain 
from  tears  of  joy  as  I  dedicated  myself  afresh  to  the  service  of  Him 
who  has  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  precious 
blood. 

"  Oh  how  strong  I  felt  in  the  joy  of  the  Lord  !  ...  He  soon,  however, 
made  me  realise  that  my  strength  is  in  Him  and  of  Him  only.  I  was 
feeling  as  if,  for  Him,  I  could  leave  all.  But  this  thought  followed 
quickly  :  '  It  is  no  use  talking  and  thinking  about  what  you  could  do. 
What  will  you  do  ?  Peter  thought  he  could  do  this  and  that,  but 
when  the  test  came  he  denied  his  Lord.'  Yes,  I  should  fail  as  he  did 
if  I  tried  in  my  own  strength.  But  the  Holy  Spirit  can  work  in  us 
'  to  ivill  and  to  do.'  Our  sufficiency  is  of  Him.  I  feel  I  am  helpless  in 
myself,  but '  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart  and  my  portion  forever.'  " 

That  he  was  deeply  feeling  the  reality  of  all  this  is  evident 
from  a  second  letter  to  his  sister  that  accompanied  the  above, 
dated  March  12. 

"  We  dwell  too  much  on  the  things  that  are  seen  and  temporal,"  he 
wrote,  "  and  far  too  little  on  those  that  are  unseen  and  eternal.  .  .  . 
Only  let  us  keep  these  things  in  view,  and  the  cares  and  pleasures  of 
this  world  will  not  affect  us  much.  .  .  .  Oh,  my  dear  Sister,  let  us 
live  for  eternity  !  Let  us  seek  to  be  near  the  throne.  What  if  for  this 
we  have  to  pass,  as  we  undoubtedly  shall,  through  great  tribulation  } 
Does  He  not  promise,  '  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee  '  > 
So  that  we  may  boldly  say  '  The  Lord  is  my  helper  :  I  will  not  fear 
what  man  shall  do  unto  me.'     Praise  His  holy  name  !  .  .  . 

"  Oh  for  more  grace  and  love,  a  love  like  His,  who  counted  not  His 
life  dear  unto  Himself  that  He  might  redeem  us  !  He  sought  not 
ease  and  comfort,  that  He  might  secure  eternal  happiness  and  heavenly 
rest  for  us.  The  value  of  a  soul — how  immense,  incalculable  !  The 
precious  blood  of  Christ  was  the  only  price  at  which  it  could  be  pur- 
chased, and  that  was  not  withheld.  If  we  really  believe  these  things 
and  have  received  the  blessings  that  flow  from  His  sacrifice,  shall  we 
withhold  ourselves,  our  loved  ones  from  Him  ?  .  .  .  Shall  we  fear  to 


142  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

enter  on  His  service  because  it  will  lessen  our  comforts  ?  Shall  we 
count  even  our  lives  dear,  if  we  may  perchance  win  souls  for  Jesus  ? 
No,  a  thousand  times  no  !  If  we  do,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God 
in  us  ?  .  .  . 

"  Dear,  dear  Sister,  let  us  live  for  God  and  for  Him  only.  Let  us 
seek  to  know  all  His  will  and  to  do  it,  whatever  the  cost.  And  may 
God,  from  whom  all  good  desires  arise  and  through  whom  alone  they 
can  be  carried  out,  pour  on  you  and  on  me  '  the  healthful  spirit  of  His 
grace,'  that  having  no  desire  save  to  do  His  will  we  may  be  enabled  to 
perform  it,  and  that  in  us  He  may  be  glorified." 

But  ready  though  he  was  for  the  sacrifice  involved, 
Hudson  Taylor  was  not  to  work  his  way  out  to  China  before 
the  mast.  "  He  was  not  to  be  tried  thus  far,"  wrote  his 
mother,  recalling  with  thankfulness  the  guidance  given 
in  answer  to  their  prayers.  For  it  was  evident  to  those 
whose  opinion  he  valued  most  that  the  time  had  not  yet  come 
for  him  to  go  forward.  He  was  too  young  as  yet.  Further 
training  was  needed  and  experience  in  the  things  of  God, 
It  was  well,  no  doubt,  that  it  was  in  his  heart  to  leave  all 
and  follow  wherever  the  Master  led.  But  was  He  leading 
just  at  that  time  to  China  ?  To  his  parents  and  friends  it 
seemed  not.  He  had  been  much  in  prayer  that  if  it  were  the 
Lord's  will  for  him  to  go  without  delay,  they  might  recognise 
it  and  bid  him  God-speed.  But  all  advised  against  it.  He 
could  not  have  taken  the  step  without  disregarding  the 
counsel  of  Christian  friends  in  Hull  as  well  as  of  his  own 
circle  in  Barnsley.  And  this  he  would  not  do  ;  for  he  was 
dealing  with  God,  who  can  overrule  second  causes. 

He  gathered  therefore  that  the  Lord's  time  had  not  yet 
come.  It  might  be  that  He  was  leading  to  some  other  step 
in  preparation  for  the  future,  but  evidently  it  was  not  His 
purpose  that  he  should  leave  immediately  for  China.  The 
conclusion  was  not  come  to  lightly.  It  was  hard  to  give  up 
his  carefully  thought-out  plans,  and  he  learned  that  there 
may  be  self-will  even  in  what  looks  like  devotion.  It  was 
an  opportunity,  however,  for  putting  into  practice  the 
important  principle,  "  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,"  and 
he  embraced  it  cheerfully,  handing  over  all  results  to  the 
Lord.  After  taking  time  to  assure  himself  that  he  was 
being  led  of  God,  he  wrote  to  his  mother  on  March  22  : 


IF  IT  BE  THOU,  BID  ME  COME  143 

As  to  my  going  to  China — in  accordance  with  the  unanimous  ad\'ice 
of  those  I  have  consulted  here  and  with  your  own  opinion,  I  intend, 
D.V.,  to  remain  in  Hull  another  year  and  wait  upon  the  Lord  for 
guidance.  I  was  much  pleased  with  your  judgment,  as  I  had  prayed 
the  Lord,  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  to  bring  us  definitely  to  one  mind. 
If  it  be  His  will  for  me  to  go  sooner,  He  can  thrust  me  out  or  open  the 
way  unmistakably.  The  Lord  does  answer  prayer  and  make  good 
His  promises.  I  long  to  see  you  all  again,  and  do  not  anticipate  a 
lengthened  delay  now. 

Sunday  last  was,  I  think,  the  happiest  day  I  ever  spent,  and  still 
I  feel  the  peace  that  passes  all  understanding :  peace  flowing  like  a 
river,  deep  and  still,  .  .  .  perfect  rest  in  Him  who  is  the  Rock  of 
Ages.     Praise  the  Lord,  He  is  ever  near  us  ! 

His  presence  makes  our  paradise, 
And  where  He  is,  is  heaven. 

A  week  spent  at  home  in  the  lovely  month  of  April, 
while  it  brought  untold  refreshment,  made  the  dreariness 
of  Drainside  on  his  return  all  the  more  apparent.  But  in- 
wardly he  was  rejoicing  in  the  Lord,  and  though  "  rather 
unhinged  at  first,"  as  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  soon  settled  down 
to  hard  work  and  solitude  once  more.  It  was  like  him,  as 
the  days  lengthened,  to  turn  to  good  account  the  strip  of 
waste  land  in  front  of  the  cottage  for  the  benefit  of  Mrs. 
Finch  and  her  family.  His  love  of  plants  and  nature 
generally  was  so  great  that  even  mustard  and  cress  growing 
outside  his  window  was  better  than  nothing,  and  his  efforts 
at  gardening,  though  confined  within  utilitarian  limits, 
afforded  him  much  satisfaction. 

That  was  a  precious  summer,  spent  in  working,  thinking, 
praying,  and  in  diligent  study  of  the  Word  of  God.  Time 
seemed  all  too  short  for  the  many  duties  crowded  into  it, 
and  he  was  learning  how  much  more  can  be  accomplished 
in  a  day  from  which  an  hour  is  deliberately  taken  for  prayer, 
than  in  the  same  time  wholly  given  to  one's  ordinary 
occupations. 

"  I  am  finding  it  a  good  plan,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister  in  July,  "  not 
to  attempt  anything  in  my  own  strength,  but  to  look  to  the  Lord  for 
all.  ...  I  would  earnestly  recommend  you  never  to  read  your  Bible, 
much  less  any  other  book,  .  .  .  nor  even  attempt  to  write  a  letter, 
without  first  lifting  your  heart  to  the  Lord,  that  He  may  guide,  enlighten, 


144  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  teach  you  .  .  .  delivering  you  from  the  snares  of  the  evil  one  and 
in  all  things  giving  you  His  blessing.  Try  it,  and  you  will  find  it  no 
vain  thing  to  wait  upon  the  Lord." 

He  was  deeply  feeling  at  this  time  his  need  of  a  wisdom 
higher  than  his  own,  his  friend  and  employer  having  put 
before  him  proposals  of  a  generous  nature  with  regard  to 
the  completion  of  his  medical  studies.  Twelve  months' 
work  together  had  convinced  Dr.  Hardey  that  he  had  found 
no  ordmary  assistant.  He  valued  his  services  highly,  and 
was  interested  in  the  lad  not  merely  on  his  own  account  but 
because  of  the  missionary  future  he  kept  so  stedfastly  in 
view.  The  plan  he  suggested,  however,  involved  a  contract 
of  the  nature  of  an  apprenticeship  for  several  years.  This 
was  a  serious  consideration  with  Hudson  Taylor,  and  finally 
led  to  his  dechning  the  offer.  It  was  not  easy  to  take  this 
step,  eager  as  he  was  to  become  a  medical  man  ;  but  the 
more  he  prayed  over  it  the  more  he  felt  he  dared  not  bind 
himself  by  any  such  agreement,  not  knowing  when  or  how 
the  Lord  might  open  his  way  to  China. 

Ever  since  his  visit  to  Barnsley  the  conviction  had  been 
growing  upon  him  that  the  time  had  come  for  some  step  in 
that  direction.  He  was  now  twenty  years  of  age,  and 
realised  the  importance  of  making  the  best  use  of  the  little 
while  that  might  remain  to  him  in  England.  London 
attracted  him  because  of  its  advantages  for  medical  study. 
He  had  not  forgotten  the  help  proffered  by  Mr.  Pearse  and 
the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society,  before  he  came  to  Hull. 
They  had  then  been  willing  to  bear  the  expense  of  his  fees 
at  the  London  Hospital  if  he  could  obtain  employment  that 
would  leave  him  time  for  study,  or  otherwise  provide  his 
board  and  lodging.  Did  that  offer  still  hold  good,  he 
wondered,  and,  if  so,  could  he  avail  himself  of  it  ? 

Gradually  as  he  prayed  over  the  matter  it  became  clear 
to  him  that  he  ought  not  to  remain  in  Hull  much  longer. 
He  had  learned  all  he  could  from  Dr.  Hardey  under  present 
conditions,  and  to  stay  on  meant  loss  of  time,  as  far  as  pre- 
paration for  China  was  concerned.  Yes,  go  he  ought  and 
must,  in  faithfulness  to  his  future  service.  But  how  ^Ya•5 
it  to  be  accomplished  ? 


IF  IT  BE  THOU,  BID  ME  COME  145 

And  just  then  a  test  of  faith  was  permitted  that,  coming 
suddenly,  found  him  unprepared.  His  father  at  home  in 
Barnsley  had  for  some  time  been  more  or  less  unsettled  in 
his  business.  He  was  still  an  active  man  of  only  five-and- 
forty,  and  something,  it  may  be  his  son's  missionary  spirit, 
had  stirred  in  him  longings  for  a  wider  field  of  usefulness. 
He  had  no  doubt  thought  and  prayed  over  Hudson's  sug- 
gestion that  he  should  go  as  an  evangelist  to  China,  but 
many  circumstances  combined  to  make  this  impracticable. 
A  further  thought  had  grown  out  of  it,  however,  that  for  a 
time  influenced  him  strongly.  Might  there  not  be  in  the 
new  world  of  Canada  or  the  United  States  opportunities  for 
carrying  on  his  business,  and  even  bettering  the  family 
fortunes,  in  a  far  more  needy  sphere  than  Barnsley  and  its 
neighbourhood  afforded  ?  The  more  he  considered  it  the 
stronger  became  his  desire  to  go  and  see  ;  and  the  mother 
was  deputed  accordingly  to  find  out  from  Hudson  what  he 
would  think  of  taking  charge  at  home  for  the  next  two 
years. 

Filled  with  surprise  and  almost  consternation,  the  latter 
hardly  gave  due  weight  to  the  wishes  of  his  parents.  Gladly 
would  he  have  gone  home  for  two  years,  or  ten,  to  liberate 
his  father  for  work  in  China.  But  a  business  journey  to 
America,  even  though  combined  with  an  evangelistic  pur- 
pose, seemed  to  him  a  very  different  proposition.  To  his 
mother  he  wrote  freely,  dwelling  on  all  that  it  would  mean 
to  abandon  at  such  a  time  the  little  preparation  he  could 
make  for  his  life-work.  Did  he  forget  for  the  moment  that 
that  life  with  all  that  concerned  it  was  in  the  hands  of  God  ? 
If  so  he  was  quickly  recalled  to  the  real  rest  of  his  soul,  and 
made  to  realise  that  his  point  of  view  had  been  selfish  and 
wrong.  How  true  was  his  repentance  may  be  seen  from 
the  following : 

Hull,  July  9,  1852. 

My  dear  Father — I  cannot  come  to  you,  and  so  write  to  say  in 
the  language  of  the  prodigal,  "  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  in 
thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son."  Conscience 
has  repeatedly  troubled  me  about  the  answer  I  sent  to  your  inquiry 
as  to  whether  I  was  willing  to  come  home  for  two  years,  should  you  go 

L 


146  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

abroad,  and  I  can  no  longer  rest  without  .  .  .  entreating  your  for- 
giveness. 

Though  I  mentioned  the  sacrifices  I  should  have  to  make  in  coming 
home,  I  said  nothing  about  those  you  have  so  willingly  made  for  me — 
the  sleepless  hours,  the  anxious  thoughts,  the  expense  to  which  you 
have  been  put,  the  education  you  have  given  me  by  which  I  am  able 
to  procure  all  the  comforts  I  now  enjoy.  And  this  is  the  return  I  have 
made  for  all  these  kindnesses.  I  have  written  of  the  sacrifices  I  should 
have  to  make  in  undertaking  to  manage  for  a  short  time  the  business 
at  which  you  have  toiled  for  twenty  years  for  my  benefit.  Father, 
I  have  been  an  ungrateful  son.  ...  I  am  deeply  sorry.  Will  you 
forgive  me  ? 

I  will  earnestly  endeavour,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  be  more  dutiful 

in  future,  and  if  you  still  wish  me  to  come  home  for  two  years  I  will  do 

so  willingly,  nay  with  pleasure,  as  it  will  give  me  an  opportunity  of 

showing  the  sincerity  of  my  repentance.    Then  afterwards,  if  the  Lord 

will,  I  shall  hope  to  engage  in  His  work  in  China.  .  .  . — Believe  me, 

dear  Father,  your  affectionate  son,  ^  ^^  ^ 

James  Hudson  Taylor. 

But  again  in  the  providence  of  God  the  sacrifice  he  was 
ready  to  make  was  not  required.  For  the  father  abandoned 
the  idea  of  going  abroad,  and  soon  settled  down  as  before 
to  his  useful,  honoured  hfe  in  Barnsley.  Thus  Hudson  was 
free  to  reconsider  his  own  movements  and  the  question  of 
going  to  London. 

And  now  came  a  time  long  to  be  remembered  in  his 
experience,  a  time  that  would  have  been  one  of  painful 
anxiety  had  not  the  grace  of  God  turned  it  all  to  joy  and 
peace.  For  the  clearer  became  his  conviction  of  what  the 
Lord  would  have  him  do,  the  greater  seemed  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  carrying  it  out.  He  felt  quite  sure  that  the 
right  thing  was  to  give  notice  to  Dr.  Hardey  without  delay, 
and  go  forward  to  his  medical  studies  in  London.  But  all 
his  efforts  to  find  suitable  employment  proved  unavailing. 
With  no  means  to  fall  back  upon,  save  the  small  sum  laid 
by  to  provide  an  outfit  for  China  ;  vdth  few  friends  in  the 
great  city,  and  no  home  open  to  him  there,  he  might  well 
have  been  discouraged.  But  the  very  reverse  was  the  case. 
Instead  of  wasting  time  and  strength  in  anxious  thought, 
he  was  enabled  to  leave  it  all  in  the  hands  of  God,  praying 


IF  IT  BE  THOU,  BID  ME  COME  147 

with  childlike  trust,  "  Make  Thy  way  plain  before  my  face." 
How  things  would  work  out  for  him  he  could  not  tell ;  but 
he  gave  himself  the  more  to  prayer,  confident  that  at  the 
right  time  guidance  would  be  given. 

All  through  July  and  August  this  faith  was  growing 
stronger,  and  he  was  dehghting  in  the  promises  of  the 
thirty-seventh  Psalm. 

Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land  and 
verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord,  and  He  shall 
give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart.  Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord, 
trust  also  in  Him,  and  He  shall  bring  it  to  pass.  .  .  .  Rest  in  the  Lord 
and  wait  patiently  for  Him.  .  .  .  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered 
by  the  Lord,  and  He  delighteth  in  his  way. 

As  he  thought  upon  these  assurances,  so  full  and  so 
explicit,  an  unlooked-for  change  came  over  everything,  and 
he  began  to  see  in  the  light  that  only  shines  from  the  Unseen. 
What  was  he  really  waiting  for  ?  He  was  not  poor  and  in 
difficulties,  but  rich — rich  as  all  the  promises  of  God.  Was 
it  his  duty  to  go  forward  ?  What  though  there  seemed  no 
solid  ground  to  tread  upon  !  Was  his  Master  there  upon 
the  unknown  sea  before  him  ?  Was  it  His  voice  heard 
across  the  waters  ?  Then  he  could  leave  the  little  boat 
without  hesitation  and  go  to  Jesus.  If  it  be  Thou,  Lord, 
"  if  it  be  Thou,  bid  me  come."  And  the  answer  was  in 
tones  he  could  not  doubt. 

"  I  think  I  have  never  enjoyed  such  peace  of  mind  as  lately,"  he 
wrote  to  his  mother  on  August  27.  "  And  the  reason  is  that  instead  of 
looking  at  circumstances  I  leave  myself  in  the  hands  of  God.  What 
a  wonderful  Psalm  the  37th  is.  Oh,  the  rich  feasts  laid  up  for  us  in 
the  precious  Word  !  .  .  . 

"  With  regard  to  London  :  when  I  returned  here  from  Bamsley,  I 
began  prayerfully  to  consider  why  I  desired  to  take  the  step  contem- 
plated ;  and  I  beUeve  my  only  object  is  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  serve 
the  Lord  better  and  be  more  useful  in  the  advancement  of  His  Kingdom. 
This  step  I  have  every  ground  for  thinking  will  be  a  valuable  preparation 
for  China.  Then  why  do  I  not  take  it }  Simply  because  I  am  in 
doubt  about  the  wherewithal.  If  my  earthly  father  had  offered  to 
send  me  five  or  ten  pounds  in  case  of  need,  I  should  have  resigned  my 
position  here  without  hesitation.  How  much  more  should  I  go  forward 
trusting  in  Him  who  says  :   '  Take  no  thought  saying.  What  shall  we 


148  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

eat  ?  or  What  shall  we  drink  ?  or  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ? 
.  .  .  Your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these 
things.'  '  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the 
land  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.' 

"  To  go  on  depending  on  circumstances  seems  to  me  like  doubting 
the  Lord.  Consequently  I  gave  notice  to  Dr.  Hardey  on  Saturday 
last,  and  shall  go  up  to  London  whether  I  obtain  a  situation  or  not, 
trusting  in  the  Lord.  I  have  heard  of  one  to-day  and  shall  write  about 
it,  though  I  do  not  think  it  will  suit  me  on  account  of  distance  from 
the  Hospital.  As  to  getting  a  salary,  that  is  quite  out  of  the  question. 
If  I  can  find  a  position  that  will  allow  six  or  eight  hours  a  day  for 
lectures,  that  is  all  I  can  expect. 

"  I  am  indeed  proving  the  truth  of  that  word  :  '  Thou  wilt  keep  him 
in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee,  because  he  trusteth  in 
Thee.'  My  mind  is  quite  as  much  at  rest,  nay  more  than  it  would  be 
if  I  had  a  hundred  pounds  in  my  pocket.  May  He  keep  me  ever  thus, 
simply  depending  on  Him  for  every  blessing,  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual,  for  Jesus'  sake." 

This  decision  arrived  at,  Hudson  was  not  afraid  to  burn 
his  bridges  behind  him.  He  wrote  at  once  to  his  cousin 
who  was  still  in  Barnsley,  suggesting  that  he  should  apply 
to  Dr.  Hardey  for  the  post  he  was  himself  vacating.  John 
Hodson  had  been  truly  converted  during  his  apprenticeship 
through  the  helpful  influence  of  his  relatives,  and  was  now 
seeking  a  situation  that  would  facilitate  his  medical  studies. 
He  had  been  in  considerable  anxiety  about  the  future,  and 
no  one  rejoiced  more  when  Dr.  Hardey  gave  him  the  appoint- 
ment than  the  cousin  whose  place  he  was  taking.  But 
Hudson's  interest  in  his  welfare  went  deeper  than  these 
outward  things,  and  very  earnestly  he  sought  to  make  use 
of  the  position  in  which  they  found  themselves  to  strengthen 
his  faith  in  God. 

"  Forgive  me,  dear  John,"  he  wrote,  "  if  I  urge  you  to  study  the 
Bible  more  and  pray  more  for  the  Holy  Spirit  ...  to  give  you  more 
light  and  love  and  more  faith  in  it  day  by  day ;  then  the  unsettled- 
ness  you  have  been  feeling  with  regard  to  your  future  prospects  will 
pass  away.  If  you  have  had  enough  to  make  you  unsettled,  what 
about  me  ?  And  yet  through  the  grace  of  God  my  mind  has  been  and 
is  kept  '  in  perfect  peace  '  because  stayed  upon  Him.  .  .  . 

"  You  ask  what  I  shall  do  if  no  situation  turns  up.  I  shall  go,  D.V., 
to  London  ;  endeavour  to  '  trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good  '  and  in  all 


IF  IT  BE  THOU,  BID  ME  COME  149 

my  ways  to  acknowledge  Him,  .  .  .  and  lie  will  care  for  my  needs. 
At  the  same  time  He  expects  us  to  pray  about  these  things.  'Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you.' 

"  Dear  John,  it  is  sweet  to  depend  on  Jesus  only,  I  have  not  heard 
of  a  likely  situation  yet,  nor  am  I  anxious  to  do  so  if  He  would  have 
me  wait.  I  received  a  note  from  Uncle  Benjamin  yesterday,  offering 
to  take  me  in  as  his  guest  until  I  can  find  suitable  employment  .  .  . 
and  I  shall  probably  go  there.  You  and  I  see  a  providence  in  these 
things." 

A  few  lines  to  his  sister  written  the  same  day,  September  4, 
show  that  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  difficulty  of  his 
position.  He  was  feeling  the  uncertainty  keenly,  but  was 
willing  to  be  tried  in  this  or  any  other  way  that  was  for  his 
good  and  the  glory  of  God. 

No  situation  has  turned  up  in  London  that  will  suit  me.  But  I 
am  not  concerned  about  it,  as  He  is  "  the  same,  yesterday,  to-day  and 
forever."  His  love  is  unfailing.  His  word  is  unchangeable.  His  power 
is  ever  the  same ;  therefore  the  heart  that  trusts  in  Him  is  kept  in 
perfect  peace.  ...  I  know  He  only  tries  me  to  increase  my  faith,  and 
that  it  is  all  in  love.  Well,  if  He  is  glorified  I  am  content.  Pray  for 
me,  dear  Sister,  that  He  who  alone  can  keep  us  from  falling  .  .  .  may 
strengthen  my  faith  and  perfect  me  in  love. 

Shortly  after  these  letters  were  written,  the  way  began 
to  clear  before  him.  His  uncle  in  London  had  already 
offered  a  temporary  home  ;  the  Chinese  Evangelisation 
Society  renewed  their  arrangement  with  regard  to  his 
hospital  fees  ;  and  the  Meeting  he  attended  in  Hull  gave 
him  introductions  to  a  few  Christian  friends  who  would 
be  accessible  from  his  Soho  quarters.  Other  offers  of  help 
reached  him  which  though  not  accepted  confirmed  his 
assurance  that  he  was  being  guided  aright.  Full  of  thankful- 
ness he  wrote  to  his  sister  in  the  middle  of  September  : 

Oh  the  love  of  God,  the  goodness  of  my  Father  and  your  Father, 
my  God  and  your  God  !  How  kind  of  Him  to  keep  me  in  such  perfect 
peace  and  full  of  joy  and  happiness  when  outwardly  in  the  most  difficult 
position.  Had  I  left  the  question  "  Shall  I  go  or  stay  ?  "  to  be  settled 
by  circumstances,  how  uncertain  I  should  have  been,  and  how  uncertain 
John  would  have  been.  But  as  the  Lord  enabled  me  to  take  the  step 
without  hesitation,  because  it  was  for  His  glory,  leaving  everything  in 
His  hands,  my  mind  has  been  just  as  peaceful  as  it  would  otherwise 


150  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

have  been  unsettled.  In  all  probability  I  should  not  have  been  able 
to  sleep  properly,  and  what  with  that  and  my  business,  which  fully 
occupies  time  and  strength,  I  should  have  been  thoroughly  knocked  up. 

Praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness  !  He  has  provided,  so  far,  all 
that  is  necessary.  Now  I  have  a  home  to  go  to,  money  to  pay  the 
fees  of  the  Ophthalmic  Hospital  as  well  as  the  course  at  the  London  .  .  . 
and  some  Christian  friends.  When  He  sees  fit,  if  He  sees  fit,  He  will 
find  me  a  suitable  situation,  and  if  not.  He  will  provide  for  and  occupy 
me  as  seems  best  to  Him.  I  leave  it  all  in  His  hands,  for  I  see  plainly 
that  it  is  the  best  way  for  peace  and  safety.  He  can  manage  these 
matters  much  better  than  we  can.  Last  autumn  I  was  fretting  and 
stewing,  reckoning  and  puzzling  about  how  to  manage  this  and  that — 
like  a  person  in  water  who  cannot  swim,  or  a  fish  out  of  it.  But  it  all 
came  to  nothing.  Now,  when  the  Lord  opens  the  way,  though  every- 
thing seems  adverse.  He  first  removes  one  difficulty  and  then  another, 
plainly  saying  "  Be  still  and  know  that  I  am  God." 

"  Thou  art  my  King,  0  God  :  command  deliverance  for  Jacob.  .  .  . 
'  I  will  not  trust  in  my  bow,  neither  shall  my  sword  save  me.  ...  In 
God  we  boast  all  the  day  long,  and  praise  Thy  name  forever.'  " 

I  know  I  cannot  guide  or  keep  myself,  even  in  temporal  matters, 
but  I  know  that  He  will  guide  me  by  His  counsel  and  afterwards  receive 
me  to  glory.  .  ,  .  Why  should  we  be  anxious,  and  for  what  ?  For 
temporal  blessings  ?  He  knows  that  we  have  need  of ' '  all  these  things." 
For  spiritual  blessings  ?  In  Him  there  is  fulness  for  every  need.  Poor, 
weak,  failing  as  we  site,  Jesus  is  ours.  "  In  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily  "  :  and  we  are  "  complete  in  Him." 

And  now.  Lord,  what  wait  I  for  ? 
My  hope  is  in  Thee. 


PART   III 

PREPARATION   FOR  CHINA,   IN   LONDON  AND 
ON   THE  VOYAGE 

1852-1854.     Aet.  20-21. 

Chap.  12. — Nothing  Certain,  Except — 
„      13. — The  Lord  will  Provide. 
„      14. — Light  at  Last. 

„    15. 1  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  ThEE. 


I  know  not  if  or  dark  or  bright 

Shall  be  my  lot. 
If  that  wherein  my  hopes  delight 

Is  best  or  not. 

My  bark  is  wafted  to  the  strand 

By  breath  divine, 
And  on  the  helm  there  rests  a  Hand 

Other  than  mine. 

One  who  has  known  in  storms  to  sail 

I  have  on  board  : 
Above  the  raging  of  the  gale 

I  hear  my  Lord. 

He  holds  me  when  the  billows  smite  ; 

I  shall  not  fall : 
If  sharp,  'tis  short,  if  long,  'tis  light — 

He  tempers  all. 

Safe  to  the  Land,  safe  to  the  Land — 

The  end  is  this  : 
And  then  with  Him  go  hand  in  hand 

Far  into  bliss. 

Henry  Alford. 


CHAPTER   XII 

NOTHING   CERTAIN,    EXCEPT — 

September  and  October  1852.    Aet.  20. 

Fog-horns  were  sounding  on  every  hand  when  a  coasting- 
steamer  plying  between  Hull  and  London  made  her  way 
slowly  up  the  Thames.  It  was  Saturday  evening,  September 
25,  and  Hudson  Taylor  amongst  others  was  expecting  to 
land  that  night.  But  the  pall  of  mist  only  gathered  more 
and  more  heavily  over  the  great  city,  until  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  cast  anchor  and  wait  till  morning.  By  noon 
it  was  possible  to  reach  the  Tower,  and  most  of  the  passengers 
went  ashore.  A  quiet  Sunday  followed  for  those  who 
remained  on  board,  of  which  Hudson  Taylor  was  specially 
thankful  in  view  of  the  new  phase  of  life  opening  before 
him. 

How  new  it  was  and  how  great  his  need  of  the  strength 
that  comes  from  God  alone  no  one  had  any  idea  but  himself. 
Not  to  his  mother,  or  even  to  the  sister  who  spent  the 
last  days  with  him  at  Drainside  had  he  spoken  of  the 
decision  taken  before  leaving  Hull  that  now  filled  his  mind 
as  he  paced  the  deck.  His  friends  and  parents  knew  that 
he  was  going  up  to  London  to  support  himself,  if  possible, 
while  completing  his  medical  studies.  They  knew  that  the 
Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  had  offered  financial  help, 
and  concluded  that  as  he  had  declined  similar  offers  from 
home  he  must  be  sufhciently  provided  for.  And  so  he  was — 
by  nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  all  the  promises  of 
God.  He  had  a  little  money  in  his  pocket  and  a  few  pounds 
laid  by  toward  an  outfit  for  China.     He  had  a  promise  also 

153 


154  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

of  help  with  his  hospital  fees,  and  an  invitation  to  be  the 
guest  for  a  few  days  or  weeks  of  his  bachelor  uncle,  while 
looking  for  a  situation.  But  beyond  this  there  was  nothing, 
humanly  speaking,  between  him  and  want  in  the  great  city 
in  which  he  was  almost  a  stranger. 

Yet  this  caused  him  no  anxiety  as  he  faced  the  coming 
winter.  For  the  future,  near  as  well  as  distant,  he  had  one 
all-suihcient  confidence.  If  that  could  fail,  it  were  better 
to  make  the  discovery  in  London  than  far  away  in  China. 
Deliberately  and  of  his  own  free  will  he  had  cut  himself  off 
from  possible  sources  of  supply  that  he  might  make  full 
proof,  under  difficult  circumstances,  of  the  promised  care 
of  God  alone.  It  was  God,  the  living  God  he  needed  ;  a 
stronger  faith  to  grasp  His  faithfulness,  and  more  experience 
of  the  practicability  of  dealing  with  Him  directly  about 
every  need.  Comfort  or  discomfort  in  London,  means  or 
the  lack  of  means,  seemed  to  him  a  small  matter  compared 
with  deeper  knowledge  of  the  One  on  whom  everything 
depended.  And  now  had  come  an  unexpected  opportunity 
for  putting  that  knowledge  to  the  test,  and  he  was  going 
forward  strong  in  the  assurance  that  the  Lord  who  had 
already  responded  so  graciously  to  his  little  faith  would 
see  and  would  provide. 

Of  the  way  in  which  he  had  been  led  to  this  position 
just  before  leaving  Drainside  the  following  is  his  own 
account  : 

By-and-by  the  time  drew  near  when  it  was  thought  desirable  that 
I  should  leave  Hull  to  attend  the  medical  course  of  the  London  Hospital. 
A  little  while  spent  there,  and  then  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that 
my  life-work  in  China  would  commence.  But  much  as  I  had  rejoiced 
at  the  willingness  of  God  to  hear  and  answer  prayer  and  to  help  His 
half-trusting,  half-timid  child,  I  felt  that  I  could  not  go  to  China  with- 
out having  still  further  developed  and  tested  my  power  to  rest  upon 
His  faithfulness  ;  and  a  marked  opportunity  for  doing  so  was  provi- 
dentially afforded  me. 

My  dear  father  had  offered  to  bear  all  the  expense  of  my  stay  in 
London.  I  knew,  however,  that,  owing  to  recent  losses,  it  would 
mean  a  considerable  sacrifice  for  him  to  undertake  this  just  when  it 
seemed  necessary  for  me  to  go  forward.  I  had  recently  become 
acquainted  with  the  Committee  of  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society, 


NOTHING  CERTAIN,  EXCEPT—  155 

in  connection  with  which  I  ultimately  left  for  China,  and  especially 
with  its  secretary,  my  esteemed  and  much-loved  friend  Mr.  George 
Pearse,  then  of  the  Stock  Exchange,  but  now  and  for  many  years 
himself  a  missionary.  Not  knowing  of  my  father's  proposition,  the 
Committee  also  kindly  offered  to  bear  my  expenses  while  in  London. 
When  these  proposals  were  first  made  to  me,  I  was  not  quite  clear  as 
to  what  I  ought  to  do,  and  in  writing  to  my  father  and  the  secretaries, 
told  them  that  I  would  take  a  few  days  to  pray  about  the  matter 
before  deciding  any  course  of  action.  I  mentioned  to  my  father  that 
I  had  had  this  offer  from  the  Society,  and  told  the  secretaries  also  of 
his  proffered  aid. 

Subsequently,  while  waiting  upon  God  in  prayer  for  guidance,  it 
became  clear  to  my  mind  that  I  could  without  difficulty  decline  both 
offers.  The  secretaries  of  the  Society  would  not  know  that  I  had  cast 
myself  wholly  on  God  for  supplies,  and  my  father  would  conclude 
that  I  had  accepted  the  other  offer.  I  therefore  wrote  declining  bothp 
and  felt  that  without  any  one  having  either  care  or  anxiety  on  my 
account  I  was  simply  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  that  He  who  knew 
my  heart,  if  He  wished  to  encourage  me  to  go  to  China,  would  bless 
my  effort  to  depend  upon  Him  alone  at  home. 

Enough,  that  God  my  Father  knows  ! 

Nothing  this  faith  can  dim  : 
He  gives  the  very  best  to  those 

Who  leave  the  choice  with  Him. 

And  SO  Hudson  Taylor  was  to  find  it,  although  his  London 
experiences  were  not  to  be  unmixed  with  trial. 

It  was  with  a  brave  heart,  therefore,  that  he  presented 
himself  at  Mr.  Ruffles'  boarding-house  near  Soho  Square, 
early  on  Monday  morning.  Here  Hved  his  uncle,  Benjamin 
Hudson,  and  a  cousin  from  Barton-on-Humber  who  was 
apprenticed  to  Mr.  Ruffles,  a  builder  and  decorator  by 
trade.  The  uncle,  a  bright,  genial  man,  was  not  only  a 
skilful  portrait-painter,  he  was  something  of  a  poet  also, 
and  a  clever  raconteur  with  a  remarkable  memory  for  "  good 
stories."  ^  He  was  decidedly  popular  in  the  boarding- 
house  and  among  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances,  including 
more  than  one  medical  man  to  whom  he  was  willing  to 
introduce  his  nephew  with  a  view  to  an  apprenticeship. 

>  This  uncle,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  James  Taylor's,  was  the  seventh  and 
youngest  child  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Hudson.  He  went  to  Calcutta, 
shortly  after  this  period,  and  made  quite  a  fortune  by  painting  Indian 
princes  and  officials,  entertaining  them  the  while  with  amusing  stories. 


156  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  cousin  too  was  friendly,  offering  to  share  his  room  with 
the  new-comer  and  so  lessen  expenses,  if  he  decided  to 
remain  in  Soho.  This  arrangement  Hudson  gladly  availed 
himself  of,  for  it  was  a  comfort  to  belong  to  some  one,  and 
Tom  seemed  almost  like  a  breath  of  home.^  Three  long 
flights  of  stairs  led  to  this  attic-chamber,  for  part  of  which 
he  had  to  pay  as  much  as  for  the  little  room  at  Mrs.  Finch's 
that  now  seemed  so  quiet  and  homelike  by  contrast.  But 
it  was  a  footing  in  London,  a  shelter  in  the  big,  busy  city 
that  he  might  call  his  own. 

What  a  drop  in  the  ocean  he  felt  amid  the  tides  of  life 
now  surging  around  him.  All  was  so  new  and  strange  ! 
He  was  in  anything  but  a  religious  circle,  surrounded  by 
people  who  moved  in  a  world  of  which  he  knew  next  to 
nothing.  Business,  politics  and  pleasure-seeking  absorbed 
their  attention,  and  his  uncle  and  cousin  did  their  best  to 
draw  him  into  the  same  sort  of  life.  They  had  quite  approved 
his  coming  to  London  to  study  medicine,  and  were  ready  in 
their  own  way  to  give  him  a  helping  hand.  But  his  point 
of  view  annoyed  while  it  perplexed  them. 

"  Talk  about  trusting  God,"  his  cousin  would  exclaim, 
"  one  must  trust  one's  own  exertions  too  !  "  Which  meant, 
"  Do  as  everybody  else  does,  and  lose  no  time  about  it." 

Then  his  unwillingness  to  bind  himself  by  an  ordinary 
apprenticeship  on  account  of  a  call  to  missionary  work  in 
China  was  something  they  could  not  understand,  especially 
when  it  seemed  that  the  Society  to  which  he  was  looking 
was  more  than  indifferent  about  the  matter.  And  this  to 
Hudson  Taylor  was  the  most  painful  surprise  of  all. 

From  his  own  relatives  he  had  not  expected  sympathy 
in  these  things,  but  Mr.  Pearse,  with  whom  he  had  been  in 
correspondence  for  more  than  two  years,  understood  his 
position  and  would  be  ready  with  counsel  and  aid.  As  soon, 
therefore,  as  possible  he  set  out  from  Soho  to  find  the  office 
of  the  Society,  little  anticipating  the  disappointment  that 
awaited  him. 

1  It  was  Tom's  elder  brother,  John  Hodson,  who  had  been  apprenticed 
to  Hudson  Taylor's  father  in  Barnsley  for  three  years,  and  was  now  in  Hull 
with  Dr.  Hardey. 


NOTHING  CERTAIN,  EXCEPT—  157 

For  the  Hon.  Secretary,  as  it  happened,  was  much  occupied 
that  day  and  could  with  difficulty  spare  time  to  see  him.' 
No,  nothing  definite  was  arranged  as  yet.  They  were 
awaiting  his  arrival.  Now  that  he  was  ready  to  begin  work 
at  the  hospital  the  matter  must  be  laid  before  the  Committee. 
This  would  take  time  of  course.  Would  he  not  come  to 
Hackney  for  a  Sunday  before  long,  and  talk  over  things 
more  at  leisure  ? 

Well  was  it  for  Hudson  Taylor  as  he  returned  to  his 
lodgings  that  he  really  was  depending  on  God  and  knew 
something  of  His  unfaihng  care.  From  a  helper  in  the  office 
he  had  learned  that  nothing  definite  could  be  done  until  a 
formal  application  was  laid  before  the  Committee.  In  all 
probability  the  Society  would  help,  as  he  had  been  led  to 
expect,  but  everything  must  be  done  in  a  certain  order.  The 
best  thing  if  there  were  any  urgency  would  be  to  send  in  his 
appHcation  at  once,  so  that  it  might  not  miss  the  next 
Committee  meeting  on  October  7,  for  they  only  gathered 
once  a  fortnight. 

October  7  !  and  it  was  not  yet  the  end  of  September. 
If  his  case  could  not  be  dealt  with  at  the  first  meeting,  he 
would  have  to  wait  another  two  weeks,  and  perhaps  another. 
Meanwhile  he  could  take  no  position  ;  his  store  of  savings 
was  diminishing  ;  and  what  would  they  say  at  the  boarding- 
house  where  his  indefiniteness  was  a  source  of  amusement 
already  ? 

If  he  had  known  all  this  in  Hull !  And  yet  what  difference 
did  it  really  make  ?  He  had  not  come  to  London  depending 
on  his  own  resources  or  on  the  help  of  man.  If  the  winds 
and  waves  were  boisterous,  was  there  not  One  beside  him 
whose  hand  was  strong  to  uphold  as  His  word  to  bring 
peace  ?  He  knew  the  end  from  the  beginning  ;  and  since 
He  had  been  Alpha  would  surely  be  Omega,  and  everything 
between. 

So  the  appHcation  was  sent  in,  and  while  waiting  the 

'  Mr.  Pearse,  it  should  be  remembered,  while  acting  as  Hon.  Secretary 
to  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society,  was  at  the  same  time  much  engrossed 
in  business.  It  was  no  lack  of  interest  that  made  him  dismiss  Hudson 
Taylor  so  curtly,  but  simply  the  pressure  of  other  claims,  and  a  failure  to 
realise  what  this  coming  to  London  meant  to  his  young  friend. 


158  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

issue  Hudson  Taylor  settled  down  to  study  as  well  as  he 
could  in  the  room  shared  with  his  cousin.  The  latter's 
occupation  allowed  him  to  be  frequently  at  home,  and  his 
criticisms  however  good-natured  were  not  a  help  to  quietness 
of  mind.  But  there  is  something  better  than  outward  ease 
and  comfort,  and  in  entirely  new  surroundings  Hudson 
Taylor  was  learning  the  old  lesson — to  rest  in  the  Lord  and 
wait  patiently  for  Him. 

"  As  to  your  inquiries,"  he  wrote  to  his  mother  on  October  2,  "  I 
will  try  to  answer  them  as  well  as  I  can.  But  really  you  know  almost 
as  much  of  my  plans  as  I  do.  For  there  is  nothing  certain  yet, 
except — *  /  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee.' 

"  I  have  no  situation  and  am  not  seeking  one.  I  question  whether 
I  shall  for  some  months  at  any  rate.  But  I  have  commenced  study 
at  home.  In  accordance  with  Mr.  M.'s  advice  I  have  written  to  the 
Committee  formally  requesting  them  to  authorise  me  to  attend  the 
London  Hospital  practice  and  lectures.  But  they  will  have  to  meet 
in  regular  course  before  I  can  know  the  result.  .  .  . 

"  London  seems  to  me  a  trying  place.  There  is  so  much  noise  and 
bustle,  so  much  to  distract  one  all  the  time.  You  can  have  no  idea 
of  the  difference  it  makes  to  be  among  light,  thoughtless,  worldly- 
minded  people  after  the  quiet  I  have  enjoyed  lately.  But  it  is  sweet 
to  realise  that  we  are  '  kept  by  the  power  of  God  ' ;  to  be  enabled  to 
say  with  the  Apostle,  '  Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than 
conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  us.' 

"  I  am  altogether  in  the  Lord's  hands,  and  He  will  direct  me." 

But  the  uncertainty  was  not  over  when  the  Committee 
met.  Strangely  enough,  they  seem  to  have  considered  it 
necessary  to  inform  themselves  further  about  him  ;  and  all 
the  action  taken  was  the  passing  of  a  resolution  requesting 
him  to  procure  an  elaborate  set  of  testimonials  to  be 
laid  before  them  at  their  next  meeting.  It  was  Hudson 
Taylor's  first  experience  of  the  working  of  a  fully-organised 
Society,  and  though  he  subsequently  came  to  understand 
the  need  for  a  certain  amount  of  "  red  tape  "  in  such 
affairs  it  was  an  experience  he  never  forgot  in  his  own 
dealings  with  would-be  missionaries. 

That  he  was  feeling  the  position  keenly  may  be  judged 
from  a  letter  to  his  mother  on  hearing  of  the  above  require- 
ments : 


NOTHING  CERTAIN,  EXCEPT—  159 

How  sweet  it  is  to  be  dependent  on  the  Lord  for  everything.  .  .  . 
All,  all  is  best  as  He  sees  fit  to  guide.  And  He  does  guide  and  provide, 
both  in  temporal  and  spiritual  matters,  as  long  as  we  trust  in 
Him.  .  .  . 

Never  mind  results.  .  .  .  Let  us  leave  them  all  to  Him.  Never 
mind  if  like  Abraham  of  old  we  have  to  go  out,  not  knowing  whither. 
He  knows.  While  unbelief  sees  only  the  difficulties,  faith  sees  God 
between  itself  and  them.  .  .  . 

As  to  my  prospects,  I  cannot  tell  you  much  as  yet.  The  Committee 
met  on  Thursday  and  considered  my  application,  and  on  Friday  night 
I  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Bird  containing  a  resolution  desiring  me 
to  procure  certain  testimonials  by  next  Thursday  loeek  for  their  further 
consideration.  Now  this  is  a  very  serious  delay,  and  I  intend  to  see 
Mr.  Pearse  to-day,  if  possible,  and  talk  with  him  about  it.  The 
required  testimonials  I  do  not  quite  understand,  and  if  they  are  all 
considered  necessary  I  shall  thank  the  Committee  for  their  kindness 
and  trouble  them  no  further,  as  I  do  not  see  them  consistent  with  my 
views.  Thank  God,  I  am  quite  as  willing  to  lose  as  to  gain  their 
assistance.  If  I  have  time  after  seeing  Mr.  Pearse  I  will  add  a  few 
lines,  if  not  I  will  write  by  a  later  post. 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  dear  mother.  He  who  has 
hitherto  provided  for,  protected  and  guided  me,  still  keeps  my  mind 
in  perfect  peace  .  .  .  and  will  do  all  things  well.  How  sweet  it  is 
to  be  enabled  to  trust  in  Him  for  all.  May  He  ever  use  us  for  His 
glory. 

Surely  his  faith  v^^as  growing,  under  these  searching  tests  ! 
Apart  from  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  what  hope 
had  he,  humanly  speaking,  of  completing  his  medical 
studies  or  entering  upon  his  life-work  ?  No  other  door  was 
open  to  him,  after  long  years  of  prayer  and  waiting.  To 
have  been  dropped  by  the  Society  or  compelled  to  "  trouble 
them  no  further  "  might  have  meant  being  stranded  in 
London  with  nothing  before  him  but  to  take  a  situation 
and  indefinitely  defer  going  to  China.  Yet  he  was  "  quite 
as  willing  to  lose  as  to  gain  their  assistance,"  if  that  were 
the  will  of  God. 

He  had  decided,  however,  to  see  Mr.  Pearse  and  come 
to  an  understanding  about  the  testimonials.  Accordingly 
he  was  up  early  the  following  morning  and  went  over  to 
Hackney  in  time  to  catch  the  busy  secretary  before  he 
left  for  the  Stock  Exchange.  As  he  explained  his  difficulties, 
Mr.  Pearse  seems  to  have  understood  at  last.     The  result 


i6o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

was  that  the  testimonials  were  seen  to  be  superfluous  and 
only  a  letter  or  two  required  from  those  who  knew  him  best. 
Even  so  another  ten  days  had  to  elapse  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Committee,  and  during  that  time  an  opening  that  must 
have  had  many  attractions  was  put  before  him.  His  father, 
concerned  at  the  ordeal  through  which  he  was  passing, 
wrote  offering  to  take  him  into  partnership  with  himself — 
that  he  might  have  a  home  and  "  something  to  depend  on." 
How  easy  it  would  have  been,  with  the  justification  of  this 
letter,  to  turn  aside  to  an  easier  pathway  !  But  his  purpose 
never  wavered.  Holding  simply  to  what  he  believed  to 
be  the  guidance  of  God  he  waited  as  those  alone  can  whose 
expectation  is  from  Him  And  before  the  end  of  the  month 
faith  was  richly  rewarded. 

"  I  am  happy  to  say  that  things  seem  to  be  assuming  a  more  settled 
appearance,"  he  wrote  on  October  24,  "  and  I  expect  all  being  well 
to  commence  work  at  the  hospital  to-morrow.  .  .  .  Please  thank 
Father  for  his  generous  offer  .  .  .  but  those  whose  trust  is  in  the 
Lord  always  have  something  to  depend  on." 

This  was  not  the  only  answer  to  his  prayers,  however, 
that  filled  his  heart  with  thanksgiving.  Studying  as  well 
as  he  could  in  that  little  attic-chamber,  he  was  unconscious 
that  the  one  who  shared  it  with  him  was  being  drawn  in 
spite  of  himself  to  the  only  source  of  abiding  joy  and  peace. 
Yet  so  it  was.  Tom  Hodson,  keenly  watching  his  cousin's 
experiences,  found  himself  face  to  face  with  conclusions  he 
could  neither  escape  nor  gainsay.  Nothing  else,  perhaps, 
would  ever  have  made  him  feel  his  own  distance  from  God 
and  need  of  something  more  real  and  satisfying  than  he  had 
ever  possessed.  But  this  did.  And  before  the  close  of 
the  year  Hudson  had  the  joy  of  seeing  him  brought  to 
"  like  precious  faith  "  in  Christ,  and  openly  taking  his  stand 
in  the  boarding-house  as  a  Christian. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   LORD   WILL   PROVIDE 

October-December  1852.    Aet.  20. 

The  hospital  at  last !  It  was  now  the  end  of  October  1852, 
three  years  almost  from  the  December  day  that  had  brought 
Hudson  Taylor  his  definite  call  to  China.  Ever  since  that 
time  he  had  had  medical  study  in  view  as  the  best  prepara- 
tion he  could  make  for  future  usefulness.  With  little  help 
and  in  spite  of  many  obstacles  he  had  persevered,  making 
considerable  progress  with  the  practical  side  of  his  work. 
But  now  the  broad  highway  lay  open  before  him — the 
lectures,  the  wards,  and  all  the  advantages  of  a  city  hospital. 

Not  that  "  The  London  "  of  those  days,  on  its  broad 
expanse  of  Mile  End  Waste,  was  anything  to  compare  with 
the  noble  institution  that  stands  there  now.  Still,  it  could 
accommodate  even  then  from  three  to  four  hundred  in- 
patients, and  its  students  had  the  benefit  of  an  unusually 
large  practice  among  the  teeming  population  of  the  East 
End.  It  was  a  new  world  indeed  to  the  north-country 
lad,  and  one  in  which  no  little  courage  was  needed  to 
maintain  the  standing  of  a  consistent  Christian. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  with  his  outward  experiences  we 
are  concerned,  during  this  period  in  London,  as  with  the 
development  of  his  inward  life — the  growth  of  both  faith 
and  faithfulness  amid  the  circumstances  of  his  providential 
way. 

That  his  temporal  needs  were  met  is  manifest,  for  he 
was  able  to  live  on  at  Soho  even  after  his  httle  store  of 
savings  had  been  expended. 

161  M 


i62  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  I  must  not  now  attempt  to  detail,"  he  wrote,  "  the  way  in  which 
the  Lord  was  pleased,  often  to  my  surprise  as  well  as  delight,  to  help 
me  from  time  to  time." 

Many  answers  to  prayer  were  given  that  are  not  recorded, 
and  from  this  point  of  view  the  winter  was  a  rich  one,  although 
we  have  it  on  his  own  authority  that  his  spiritual  life  was 
not  as  bright  as  it  had  been  in  Hull.  But,  though  there 
was  less  joy  in  the  Lord,  apparently,  and  less  consciousness 
of  His  presence,  the  wonderful  reality  did  not  fail. 

Owing  to  heavy  rains,  the  season  was  specially  depressing 
Much  of  the  East  End  was  flooded,  with  serious  results  for 
those  who  lived  near  the  river  or  whose  employment  kept 
them  in  the  damp,  foggy  streets.  And  Hudson  Taylor, 
for  a  considerable  part  of  every  day,  was  among  their  number. 
Lodging  at  Soho  for  the  sake  of  remaining  with  his  cousin, 
he  was  fully  four  miles  from  the  hospital  in  which  most  of 
his  work  was  done.  This  meant  a  walk  of  at  least  two 
hours  daily — from  Oxford  Street  to  Whitechapel,  and  back 
across  the  City  to  Oxford  Street  again.  There  was  no 
"  Tube  "  or  "  Underground  "  available.  The  only  public 
conveyance  was  the  old-fashioned  omnibus  with  its  three- 
penny fare  each  way,  a  price  that  was  quite  prohibitive. 
So  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  walk. 

For  the  young  medical  student  was  economising  very 
strictly.  How  far  this  was  necessary  or  desirable,  it  is  not 
for  us  to  say.  He  was  inexperienced  as  yet  in  a  life  of  faith, 
and  felt  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  deny  himself  everything 
that  could  be  done  without,  partly  with  a  view  to  helping 
others. 

"  To  lessen  expenses,"  he  wrote,  "  I  shared  a  room  with  a  cousin, 
four  miles  from  the  hospital,  providing  my  own  board  ;  and  after 
various  experiments  I  found  that  the  most  economical  way  was  to 
live  almost  exclusively  on  brown  bread  and  water.  Thus  I  was  able 
to  make  the  means  that  God  gave  me  last  as  long  as  possible.  Some 
of  my  expenses  I  could  not  diminish,  but  my  board  was  largely  in  my 
own  control.  A  large  twopenny  loaf  of  brown  bread,  purchased 
daily  on  my  long  walk  from  the  hospital,  furnished  me  with  supper 
and  breakfast ;  and  on  this  diet  with  a  few  apples  for  lunch  I  managed 
to  walk  eight  or  nine  miles  a  day,  besides  being  a  good  deal  on  foot 
attending  the  practice  of  the  hospital.  ..." 


THE  LORD  WILL  PROVIDE  163 

Remember  it  was  winter,  the  month  of  November,  just 
the  most  cheerless  time  of  all  the  year.  Trudging  home  long 
after  dark,  how  tempting  the  restaurants  would  look  to 
the  tired,  hungry  student  who  had  had  no  dinner  for  many 
a  day  !  Did  the  baker  guess,  who  sold  that  large  twopenny 
loaf  of  brown  bread,  why  his  customer  always  waited  to 
have  it  cut  in  half  ?  Only  half  could  be  taken  that  night 
for  supper  :  the  remainder  had  to  suffice  for  the  morrow,  and 
experience  had  proved  how  very  hard  it  was  to  make  such 
a  division  impartially.  When  at  first  he  tried  it  for  him- 
self, supper  had  so  much  the  advantage  of  breakfast  that 
the  lad  often  went  hungry  the  following  day.  The  baker, 
however,  was  disinterested,  and  laid  him  under  obligation 
by  settling  the  question  on  the  spot. 

Brown  bread,  apples  and  water,  at  a  cost  of  threepence 
a  day— a  diet  worthy  of  a  Bedouin  Arab,  minus  the  fragrant 
coffee,  and  more  suited  to  his  tranquil  surroundings.  But 
for  a  delicate  lad  amid  the  stress  and  strain  of  London  life 
it  left  much  to  be  desired. 

And  all  the  while  it  was  the  greatness  of  the  inward  way 
that  told  upon  him  most.  Hunger  and  weariness  of  body 
were  of  little  moment  compared  with  the  longing  of  his  soul. 
It  was  the  end  in  view  that  meant  so  much— China  in  its 
unutterable  need,  and  what  he  could  do  to  meet  it  ;  God 
and  His  purposes  of  blessing,  to  be  apprehended  only  by 
faith  and  prayer. 

Meanwhile  he  was  getting  on  well  with  his  work  in  the 
hospital. 

"  No/'  he  wrote  in  reply  to  his  mother's  inquiries,  "  my  health 
does  not  suffer.  On  the  contrary,  every  one  says  how  well  I  look,  and 
some  even  that  I  am  getting  fat  !  Though  this,  I  believe,  can  only 
be  perceived  by  rather  a  brilliant  imagination.  The  walks  do  not 
fatigue  me  as  they  did  at  first.  But  the  profane  conversation  of  some 
of  the  students  is  utterly  sickening,  and  I  need  all  your  prayers. 

"  How  precious  the  assurance, '  Having  loved  His  own  which  were 
in  the  world,  He  loved  them  unto  the  end  '  !  He  never  forgets,  He 
never  tires.  .  .  .  The  future,  as  you  say,  is  all  in  His  hands,  and  where 
else  would  we  wish  it  ?  " 

Yet  even  as  he  wrote  the  words  he  was  in  a  position  that 


i64  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

might  well  have  given  rise  to  anxiety,  and  was  entering  on 
a  period  of  trial  more  severe  than  any  he  had  previously 
known.  As  a  background  to  this  experience  with  which 
the  year  terminated,  and  of  which  he  wrote  as  follows, 
precious  indeed  was  the  assurance,  "  He  never  forgets,  He 
never  tires." 

One  incident  I  cannot  but  refer  to,  that  took  place  about  this  time. 
The  husband  of  my  former  landlady  in  Hull  was  chief  officer  of  a  ship 
that  sailed  from  London,  and  by  receiving  his  half-pay  monthly  and 
remitting  it  to  her  I  was  able  to  save  her  the  cost  of  a  commission. 
This  I  had  been  doing  for  two  or  three  months,  when  she  wrote  re- 
questing that  I  would  obtain  the  next  payment  as  early  as  possible,  as 
her  rent  was  almost  due,  and  she  depended  upon  that  sum  to  meet  it. 
The  request  came  at  an  inconvenient  time.  I  was  working  hard  for 
an  examination,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  scholarship  which  would 
be  of  service  to  me,  and  felt  that  I  could  ill  a.fford  the  time  to  go  during 
the  busiest  part  of  the  day  to  the  city  and  procure  the  money.  I  had 
sufficient  of  my  own  in  hand  to  enable  me  to  send  the  required  sum, 
and  made  the  remittance  therefore,  purposing  as  soon  as  the  examina- 
tion was  over  to  go  and  draw  the  regular  allowance  with  which  to 
refund  myself. 

Before  the  time  of  examination  the  medical  school  was  closed  for 
a  day  on  account  of  the  funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  I  had 
an  opportunity  of  going  at  once  to  the  office,  which  was  situated  in  a 
street  off  Cheapside,  and  applying  for  the  due  amount.  To  my 
surprise  and  dismay  the  clerk  told  me  that  he  could  not  pay  it,  as  the 
officer  in  question  had  run  away  from  his  ship  and  gone  to  the  gold 
diggings. 

"  Well,"  I  remarked,  "  that  is  very  inconvenient  for  me,  as  I  have 
already  advanced  the  money  and  I  know  his  wife  will  have  no  means 
of  repaying  it." 

The  clerk  said  he  was  very  sorry,  but  could  of  course  only  act 
according  to  orders.  So  there  was  no  help  for  me  in  that  direction  ! 
A  little  more  time  and  thought,  however,  brought  the  comforting 
conclusion  to  my  mind  that  as  I  was  depending  on  the  Lord  for  every- 
thing, and  His  means  were  not  limited,  it  was  a  small  matter  to  be 
brought  a  little  sooner  or  later  into  the  position  of  needing  fresh 
supplies  from  Him.     So  the  joy  and  peace  were  not  long  interrupted. 

Very  soon  after  this,  possibly  the  same  evening,  while  sewing 
together  some  sheets  of  paper  on  which  to  take  notes  of  lectures,  I 
accidentally  pricked  the  first  finger  of  my  right  hand,  and  in  a  few 
moments  forgot  all  about  it.  The  next  day  at  the  hospital  I  continued 
dissecting  as  before.    The  body  was  that  of  a  person  who  had  died 


THE  LORD  WILL  PROVIDE  165 

of  fever,  and  was  more  than  usually  disagreeable  and  dangerous.  1 
need  scarcely  say  that  those  of  us  who  were  at  work  upon  it  dissected 
with  special  care,  knowing  that  the  slightest  scratch  might  cost  our 
lives.  Before  the  morning  was  far  advanced  I  began  to  feel  weary, 
and  while  going  through  the  surgical  wards  at  noon  was  obliged  to 
run  out,  being  suddenly  very  sick — a  most  unusual  circumstance  with 
me,  as  I  took  but  little  food  and  nothing  that  could  disagree  with  me. 
After  feeling  faint  for  some  time,  a  draught  of  cold  water  revived  me 
and  I  was  able  to  rejoin  the  students.  I  became  more  and  more  un- 
well, however,  and  during  the  afternoon  lecture  on  surgery  found  it 
impossible  to  hold  the  pencil  and  continue  taking  notes.  By  the  time 
the  next  lecture  was  over,  my  whole  arm  and  right  side  were  full  of 
pain  and  I  was  both  looking  and  feeling  very  ill. 

Finding  that  I  could  not  resume  work,  I  went  into  the  dissecting- 
room  to  bind  up  the  portion  I  was  engaged  upon  and  put  away  my 
apparatus,  and  said  to  the  demonstrator,  who  was  a  skilful  surgeon  : 

"  I  cannot  think  what  has  come  over  me,"  describing  the  symptoms. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  what  has  happened  is  clear  enough.  You  must 
have  cut  yourself  in  dissecting,  and  you  know  that  this  is  a  case  of 
malignant  fever." 

I  assured  him  that  I  had  been  most  careful  and  was  quite  certain 
that  I  had  no  cut  or  scratch. 

"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  you  certainly  must  have  had  one  "  ;  and  he 
closely  scrutinised  my  hand  to  find  it,  but  in  vain. 

All  at  once  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  pricked  my  finger  the  night 
before,  and  I  asked  him  if  it  were  possible  that  a  prick  from  a  needle 
at  that  time  could  have  been  still  unclosed.  His  opinion  was  that 
this  was  probably  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  and  he  advised  me  to  get 
a  hansom,  drive  home  as  fast  as  I  could  and  arrange  my  affairs  forth- 
with : 

"  For,"  said  he,  "  you  are  a  dead  man." 

My  first  thought  was  one  of  sorrow  that  I  could  not  go  to  China ; 
but  very  soon  came  the  feeling,  "  Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  I 
have  work  to  do  in  China  and  shall  not  die."  I  was  glad,  however, 
to  take  the  opportunity  of  speaking  to  my  medical  friend,  who  was 
a  confirmed  sceptic,  of  the  joy  that  the  prospect  of  soon  being  with 
my  Master  gave  me,  telling  him  at  the  same  time  that  I  did  not  think 
I  should  die,  as  unless  I  were  much  mistaken  I  had  work  to  do  in  China, 
and  if  so,  however  severe  the  struggle,  I  must  be  brought  through. 

"  That  is  all  very  well,"  he  answered,  "  but  get  a  hansom  and  drive 
home  as  fast  as  you  can.  You  have  no  time  to  lose,  for  you  \\  ill  soon 
be  incapable  of  winding  up  your  affairs." 

I  smiled  a  little  at  the  idea  of  driving  home  in  a  hansom,  for  by 
this  time  my  means  were  too  exhausted  to  allow  of  such  a  proceeding, 
and  I  set  out  to  walk  the  distance  if  possible.     Before  long,  however, 


i66  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

my  strength  gave  way,  and  I  felt  it  was  no  use  to  attempt  to  reach 
home  by  walking.  Availing  myself  of  an  omnibus  from  Whitechapel 
Church  to  Farringdon  Street,  and  another  from  Farringdon  Street 
onwards,  I  reached,  in  great  suffering,  the  neighbourhood  of  Soho 
Square,  behind  which  I  lived.  On  going  into  the  house  I  got  some 
hot  water  from  the  servant,  and  charging  her  very  earnestly — literally 
as  a  dying  man — to  accept  eternal  life  as  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ,  I  bathed  my  hand  and  lanced  the  finger,  hoping  to  let  out  some 
of  the  poisoned  blood.  The  pain  was  very  severe.  I  fainted  away, 
and  was  so  long  unconscious  that  when  I  came  to  myself  I  found  I 
had  been  carried  to  bed. 

An  uncle  of  mine  who  lived  near  at  hand  had  come  in,  and  sent  for 
his  own  medical  man,  an  assistant  surgeon  at  the  Westminster  Hospital. 
I  assured  my  uncle  that  medical  help  would  be  of  no  service  to  me, 
and  that  I  did  not  wish  to  go  to  the  expense  involved.  He  quieted 
me  on  this  score,  however,  saying  that  he  had  sent  for  his  own  doctor 
and  that  the  bill  would  be  charged  to  himself.  When  the  surgeon 
came  and  learned  all  particulars,  he  said, 

"  Well,  if  you  have  been  living  moderately  you  may  pull  through, 
but  if  you  have  been  going  in  for  beer  and  that  sort  of  thing  there  is 
no  manner  of  chance  for  you." 

I  thought  that  if  sober  living  was  to  do  anything,  few  could  have 
a  better  chance,  as  little  but  bread  and  water  had  been  my  diet  for  a 
good  while  past.  I  told  him  I  had  lived  abstemiously  and  found  that 
it  helped  me  to  study. 

"  But  now,"  he  said,  "  you  must  keep  up  your  strength,  for  it  will 
be  a  pretty  hard  struggle."  And  he  ordered  me  a  bottle  of  port  wine 
every  day  and  as  many  chops  as  I  could  consume. 

Again  I  smiled  inwardly,  having  no  means  for  the  purchase  of  such 
luxuries.  This  difficulty,  however,  was  also  met  by  my  kind  uncle, 
who  sent  me  at  once  all  that  was  needed. 

1  was  much  concerned,  notwithstanding  the  agony  I  suffered,  that 
my  dear  parents  should  not  be  made  acquainted  with  my  state. 
Thought  and  prayer  had  satisfied  me  that  I  was  not  going  to  die,  but 
that  there  was  indeed  a  work  for  me  to  do  in  China.  If  my  dear 
parents  should  come  up  and  find  me  in  that  condition,  I  must  lose 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  how  God  was  going  to  work  for  me  now  that 
my  money  was  almost  come  to  an  end.  So,  after  prayer  for  guidance, 
I  obtained  a  promise  from  my  uncle  and  cousin  not  to  write  to  my 
parents,  but  to  leave  me  to  communicate  with  them  myself.  I  felt 
it  a  very  distinct  answer  to  prayer  when  they  gave  me  this  promise, 
and  I  took  care  to  defer  all  communication  with  Barnsley  until  the 
worst  was  over.  At  home  they  knew  that  I  was  working  hard  for  an 
examination  and  did  not  wonder  at  my  silence. 

Days  and  nights  of   suffering  passed  slowly  by ;    but  at  length. 


THE  LORD  WILL  PROVIDE  167 

after  several  weeks,  I  was  sufficiently  restored  to  leave  my  room  ; 
and  then  I  learned  that  two  men,  though  not  from  the  London  Hospital, 
who  had  had  dissection  wounds  at  the  same  time  as  myself,  had  both 
succumbed,  while  I  was  spared  in  answer  to  prayer  to  work  for  God 
in  China. 

One  day  the  doctor  coming  in  found  me  on  the  sofa,  and  was 
surprised  to  learn  that  with  assistance  I  had  walked  downstairs. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  get  off  to  the 
country  as  soon  as  you  feel  equal  to  the  journey.  You  must  rusticate 
until  you  have  recovered  a  fair  amount  of  strength,  for  if  you  begin 
your  work  too  soon  the  consequences  may  still  be  serious." 

When  he  had  left,  as  I  lay  very  exhausted  on  the  couch,  I  just  told 
the  Lord  all  about  it,  and  that  I  was  refraining  from  making  my 
circumstances  known  to  those  who  would  delight  to  meet  my  need 
in  order  that  my  faith  might  be  strengthened  by  receiving  help  from 
Himself  in  answer  to  prayer  alone.  What  was  I  to  do  ?  And  I  waited 
for  His  answer. 

It  seemed  to  me  as  if  He  were  directing  my  mind  to  the  conclusion 
to  go  again  to  the  shipping  office  and  inquire  about  the  wages  I  had 
been  unable  to  draw.  I  reminded  the  Lord  that  I  could  not  afford  to 
take  a  conveyance,  and  that  it  did  not  seem  at  all  likely  I  should 
succeed  in  getting  the  money,  and  asked  whether  this  impulse  were 
not  a  mere  clutching  at  a  straw,  some  mental  process  of  my  own  rather 
than  His  guidance  and  teaching.  After  prayer,  however,  and  renewed 
waiting  upon  God,  I  was  confirmed  in  my  belief  that  He  Himself  was 
directing  me  to  go  to  the  office. 

The  next  question  was,  "  How  am  I  to  go  ?  "  I  had  had  to  seek 
help  in  coming  downstairs,  and  the  place  was  at  least  two  miles  away. 
The  assurance  was  brought  vividly  home  to  me  that  whatever  I  asked 
of  God  in  the  name  of  Christ  would  be  done,  that  the  Father  might 
be  glorified  in  the  Son  ;  that  what  I  had  to  do  was  to  seek  strength 
for  the  long  walk,  to  receive  it  by  faith,  and  set  out  upon  it.  Un- 
hesitatingly I  told  the  Lord  that  I  was  quite  willing  to  take  the  walk 
if  He  would  give  the  strength.  I  asked  in  the  name  of  Christ  that  the 
strength  might  immediately  be  given  ;  and  sending  the  servant  up 
to  my  room  for  my  hat  and  stick,  I  set  out,  not  to  attempt  to  walk, 
but  to  walk  to  Cheapside. 

Although  undoubtedly  strengthened  by  faith,  I  never  took  so  much 
interest  in  shop  windows  as  I  did  upon  that  journey.  At  every  second 
or  third  shop  I  was  glad  to  lean  a  little  against  the  plate  glass,  and 
take  time  to  examine  the  contents  of  the  window  before  passing  on. 
It  needed  a  special  effort  of  faith  when  I  got  to  the  bottom  of  Farringdon 
Street  to  attempt  the  toilsome  ascent  of  Snow  Hill  ;  but  there  was  no 
Holborn  Viaduct  in  those  days,  and  it  had  to  be  done.  God  did 
wonderfully  help  me,  and  in  due  time  I  reached  Cheapside,  turned 


i68  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

into  the  by-street  in  which  the  office  was  founds  and  sat  down  much 
exhausted  on  the  steps  leading  to  the  first  floor,  which  was  my  destina- 
tion. I  felt  my  position  to  be  a  little  peculiar,  sitting  there  on  the 
steps  so  evidently  spent,  and  the  gentlemen  who  rushed  up  and 
downstairs  looked  at  me  with  an  inquiring  gaze.  After  a  little  rest, 
however,  and  a  further  season  of  prayer,  I  succeeded  in  climbing  the 
staircase,  and  to  my  comfort  found  in  the  office  the  clerk  with  whom 
I  had  hitherto  dealt  in  the  matter.  Seeing  me  looking  pale  and 
exhausted  he  kindly  inquired  as  to  my  health,  and  I  told  him  that  I 
had  had  a  serious  illness  and  was  ordered  to  the  country,  but  thought 
it  well  to  call  first  and  make  further  inquiry,  lest  there  should  have 
been  any  mistake  about  the  mate  having  run  off  to  the  gold  diggings. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  I  am  so  glad  you  have  come,  for  it  turns  out  that 
it  was  an  able  seaman  of  the  same  name  that  ran  away.  The  mate 
is  still  on  board  ;  the  ship  has  just  reached  Gravesend  and  will  be  up 
very  soon.  I  shall  be  glad  to  give  you  the  half-pay  up  to  date,  for 
doubtless  it  will  reach  his  wife  more  safely  through  you.  We  all 
know  what  temptations  beset  the  men  when  they  arrive  at  home 
after  a  voyage." 

But  before  giving  me  the  sum  of  money,  he  insisted  on  my  coming 
inside  and  sharing  his  lunch.  I  felt  it  was  the  Lord  indeed  who  was 
providing  for  me,  and  accepted  his  offer  with  thankfulness.  When 
I  was  refreshed  and  rested,  he  gave  me  a  sheet  of  paper  to  write  a  few 
lines  to  the  wife,  telling  her  of  the  circumstances.  On  my  way  back 
I  procured  in  Cheapside  a  money-order  for  the  balance  due  to  her, 
and  posted  it ;  and  returning  home  again  felt  myself  now  quite 
justified  in  taking  an  omnibus  as  far  as  it  would  serve  me. 

Very  much  better  the  next  morning,  I  made  my  way  to  the  surgery 
of  the  doctor  who  had  attended  me,  feeling  that  although  my  uncle 
was  prepared  to  pay  the  bill  it  was  right  for  me  now  that  I  had  money 
in  hand  to  ask  for  the  account  myself.  The  kind  surgeon  refused  to 
allow  me  as  a  medical  student  to  pay  anything  for  his  attendance, 
but  he  had  supplied  me  with  quinine  which  he  allowed  me  to  pay  for 
to  the  extent  of  eight  shillings.  When  that  was  settled,  I  saw  that 
the  sum  left  was  just  sufficient  to  take  me  home  ;  and  to  my  mind  the 
whole  thing  seemed  a  wonderful  interposition  of  God  on  my  behalf. 

I  knew  that  the  surgeon  was  sceptical,  and  told  him  that  I  should 
very  much  like  to  speak  to  him  freely,  if  I  might  do  so  without  offence  ; 
that  I  felt  that  under  God  I  owed  my  Ufe  to  his  care,  and  wished  very 
earnestly  that  he  himself  might  become  a  partaker  of  the  same  precious 
faith  that  I  possessed.  So  I  told  him  my  reason  for  being  in  London, 
and  about  my  circumstances,  and  why  I  had  declined  the  help  of  both 
my  father  and  the  officers  of  the  Society  in  connection  with  which  it 
was  probable  that  I  should  go  to  China.  I  told  him  of  the  recent 
providential  dealings  of  God  with  me,  and  how  apparently  hopeless 


THE  LORD  WILL  PROVIDE  169 

my  position  had  been  the  day  before  when  he  had  ordered  me  to  go 
to  the  country,  unless  I  would  reveal  my  need,  which  I  had  determined 
not  to  do.  I  described  to  him  the  mental  exercises  I  had  gone  through  ; 
but  when  I  added  that  I  had  actually  got  up  from  the  sofa  and  walked 
to  Cheapside,  he  looked  at  me  incredulously  and  said, 

"  Impossible  !  Why,  I  left  you  lying  there  more  like  a  ghost  than 
a  man." 

And  I  had  to  assure  him  again  and  again  that,  strengthened  by 
faith,  the  walk  had  really  been  taken. 

I  told  him  also  what  money  was  left  to  me  and  what  payments 
there  had  been  to  make,  and  showed  him  that  just  sufficient  remained 
to  take  me  home  to  Yorkshire,  providing  for  needful  refreshment  on 
the  way  and  the  omnibus  journey  at  the  end. 

My  kind  friend  was  completely  broken  down,  and  said  with  tears 
in  his  eyes, 

"  I  would  give  all  the  world  for  a  faith  like  yours." 

I  on  the  other  hand  had  the  joy  of  telling  him  that  it  was  to  be 
obtained  without  money  and  without  price. 

We  never  met  again.  When  I  came  back  to  town  restored  to 
health  and  strength  I  found  that  he  had  had  a  stroke  and  left  for  the 
country,  and  I  subsequently  learned  that  he  never  raUied.  I  was 
able  to  gain  no  information  as  to  his  state  of  mind  when  taken  away, 
but  I  have  always  felt  very  thankful  that  I  had  the  opportunity,  and 
embraced  it,  of  bearing  that  testimony  for  God.  I  cannot  but  enter- 
tain the  hope  that  the  Master  Himself  was  speaking  to  him  through 
His  dealings  with  me,  and  that  I  shall  meet  him  again  in  the  Better 
Land.  It  would  be  no  small  joy  to  be  welcomed  by  him  when  my 
own  service  is  over. 

The  next  day  found  me  in  my  dear  parents'  home.  My  joy  in  the 
Lord's  help  and  deliverance  was  so  great  that  I  was  unable  to  keep  it 
to  myself,  and  before  my  return  to  London  my  dear  mother  knew  the 
secret  of  my  life  for  some  time  past.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  when 
I  went  up  again  to  town  I  was  not  allowed  to  live,  as  indeed  I  was  not 
fit  to  live,  on  the  same  economical  lines  as  before  my  illness.  I  needed 
more  now,  and  the  Lord  did  provide. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

LIGHT   AT   LAST 

January-June  1853.    Aet.  20-21. 

The  joy  of  these  experiences  was  very  great  and  had  much 
to  do  with  Hudson  Taylor's  return  to  a  fuller  consciousness 
of  fellowship  with  God.  His  early  months  in  London  had 
not  been  helpful  spiritually,  but  now  as  winter  passed  away 
a  springtide  of  blessing  seemed  to  awaken  in  his  soul. 

"  I  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  you  have  been  praying  for  me/'  he 
wrote  to  his  mother  in  February.  "  I  have  been  sure  of  it.  For 
though  at  times  the  heavens  have  seemed  as  brass  and  I  have  felt 
myself  left  and  forsaken,  I  have  been  enabled  to  cling  to  the  promises 
by  simple,  '  naked  faith/  as  father  calls  it  .  .  .  and  never  have  I 
enjoyed  more  happy  seasons  than  of  late." 

He  had  been  passing  through  deep  waters  since  his  return 
to  London,  not  in  connection  with  financial  matters,  but 
through  the  mistakes  and  suffering  of  some  dear  to  him 
that  cost  him  more  than  words  can  say.  But  by  Easter 
these  troubles  were  beginning  to  pass  away,  and  he  was 
rejoicing  once  more  in  inward  and  outward  deliverance. 

His  Sunday  visits  to  Tottenham  were  very  helpful  at 
this  time,  especially  the  hours  spent  at  Bruce  Grove  and 
with  Miss  Stacey.  The  latter  had  a  way  all  her  own  of 
finding  out  what  people  needed,  and  the  young  medical 
student  with  his  bright  face,  spare  figure,  well-worn  clothes 
and  burning  love  for  China  told  a  story  that  touched  her 
heart. 

In  her  garden  stood  a  fine  old  cedar,  a  landmark  in  the 

170 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  171 

neighbourhood  and  a  dehghtful  retreat  on  sunny  days,  and 
the  Hbrary  indoors  was  of  the  same  restful  character,  a  place 
seemingly  apart  from  the  hurry  and  care  of  life.  Miss 
Stacey  lived  alone,  and  was  quite  mistress  of  the  situation 
even  when  surrounded  as  she  frequently  was  with  visitors. 
Hudson  Taylor  needed  rest  :  she  would  have  him  left  quiet. 
So  it  became  an  understood  thing  whenever  he  was  in  the 
house  that  the  hbrary  and  cedar  tree  were  not  invaded  save 
by  this  privileged  but  most  unconscious  guest. ^ 

A  change  in  his  circumstances  too  proved  helpful,  when 
after  six  months  at  Soho  he  obtained  a  position  as  assistant 
to  a  surgeon  in  the  City. 

It  was  good  to  be  at  work  again  under  experienced  super- 
vision, and  a  matter  for  thankfulness  to  have  only  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  to  walk  to  the  hospital,  instead  of  four.  He 
seems  to  have  been  living  with  his  employer,  Mr.  Thomas 
Brown  of  St.  Mary  Axe,  near  Finsbury  Circus,  and  it  is 
comforting  to  read  of  family  meals,  including  tea  and  supper  ! 
His  life  was  necessarily  a  strenuous  one — attending  the 
hospital  all  the  morning  and  working  for  Mr.  Brown  until 

'  "  It  has  been  one  of  the  privileges  of  my  hfe,"  wrote  Miss  EHzabeth 
Wilson  of  Kendal,  "  to  have  known  so  much  of  your  beloved  and  honoured 
father.  The  first  time  I  ever  met  him  was  when  as  a  young  girl  I  was  on 
a  visit  to  Miss  Stacey.  He  came  for  one  of  the  little  rests  he  so  much 
needed  and  that  Miss  Stacey  rejoiced  to  give  him,  leaving  him  the  run  of 
the  garden  and  hbrary  and  protecting  him  from  much  company  or  con- 
versation. He  was  then  a  medical  student  and  hving  I  think  on  very 
little.  For  years  after,  when  I  asked  him  how  he  had  been  able  to  afford 
the  omnibus  so  often,  he  replied,  '  Miss  Stacey  was  not  one  who  could 
forget  details  of  that  sort.  She  never  let  me  pay  my  fare.'  So  no  doubt 
the  excellent  dinners  now  and  then  did  him  good,  as  well  as  the  ministry 
of  the  Tottenham  meeting." 

Little  could  Miss  V^ilson  have  imagined  at  that  time  that  she  too  would 
be  called  to  China,  and  used  as  one  of  the  most  devoted  pioneers  of  the 
Inland  Mission. 

Another  friend  of  those  days,  though  still  a  lad  at  school,  was  Theodore 
Howard,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Howard  of  Bruce  Grove  :  now  and 
for  many  years  Home  Director  of  the  China  Inland  Mission.  "  I  do 
certainly  think,"  he  wrote  concerning  Mr.  Taylor's  visits  to  Tottenham, 
"  that  the  intercourse  he  had  with  friends  there  must  have  considerably 
influenced  his  views  of  Christian  faith,  doctrine,  and  practice.  Those  were 
palmy  days  (among  Brethren)  in  which  there  was  much  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
teaching,  and  I  believe  they  have  left  their  mark  on  many  branches  of  the 
Evangelical  Church.  And  they  were  followed  by  the  blessed  gatherings  at 
Barnet  and  Mildmay,  through  which  the  same  truths  became  the  heritage 
of  an  ever-widening  circle  of  believers.  Thank  God  that  Hght  has  never 
died  away,  but  has  grown  brighter  and  brighter  amid  the  darkness  of 
sacerdotalism,  ritualism,  and  scientilic  criticism  in  these  days  of  '  modern 
thought.'  " 


172  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

nine  o'clock  at  night,  after  which  the  time  was  his  own  for 
study.  But  his  heart  was  at  rest  in  God.  The  depression 
of  spirits  from  which  he  had  been  suffering  passed  away, 
and  after  fifteen  months  of  "  boarding  himself  "  on  next 
to  nothing,  the  change  was  in  every  way  beneficial. 

China  was  much  on  his  heart  this  spring,  and  his  outlook 
upon  the  life-work  awaiting  him  there  was  becoming  more 
definite.  Previously,  in  Barnsley  and  in  Hull,  he  had 
rather  taken  it  for  granted  that  the  difficulties  connected 
with  his  future  would  all  vanish  if  some  Society  could  be 
found  to  send  him  out.  It  was  a  youthful  way  of  looking 
at  things,  and  now  with  more  experience  he  began  to  see 
that  the  very  opposite  might  be  the  case.  In  London  he 
had  come  to  understand  something  of  the  working  of  a 
Society  with  its  necessary  riiles  and  regulations,  and  he 
could  not  but  see  that  to  be  under  the  direction  of  a  Com- 
mittee, while  it  would  secure  him  a  salary  and  other 
advantages,  might  greatly  curtail  his  freedom  of  action,  and 
in  this  way  increase  rather  than  lessen  his  trials. 

At  the  same  time  events  were  transpiring  in  China  that 
deepened  his  longing  to  give  himself  to  work  in  the  interior. 
This  had  alwaysbeenhis  desire,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  inland 
China  was  inaccessible  to  foreign  missionaries.  Gutzlaff's 
effort  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  distant  provinces  had  proved 
a  signal  failure,  and  Protestant  Missions  were  still  confined, 
and  that  very  strictly,  to  the  Treaty  Ports.  But  for  Hudson 
Taylor,  the  vast,  dark,  waiting  interior,  with  its  miUions 
who  had  never  heard  of  a  Saviour's  love,  caUed  with  a  claim 
and  insistence  that  could  not  be  disregarded.  And  now, 
through  the  amazing  trend  of  events  within  that  great 
Empire  itself,  it  seemed  as  though  his  desire  might  be  nearer 
accomphshment  than  he  could  ever  have  anticipated. 

For  wonderful  news  was  slowly  filtering  its  way  from  the 
inland  provinces,  news  that  filled  the  Western  world  with 
astonishment.  The  Tai-ping  Rebellion,  first  recognised 
in  1850,  had  not  only  attained  remarkable  proportions 
under  the  leadership  of  Hung  Siu-ts'iien.  Arising  in 
southern  China,  it  had  swept  over  the  central  provinces 


By  kind  permission  frcrm  a  ruhUng  in  the  possession  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
A    REMARKABLE    TABLET    ERECTED    AT    NAN-KING    BY    THE    TAI-PING 

"emperor,"  hung  siu-ts'uen. 

The  small  characters  above  are  a  quotation  of  the  Beatitudes  from  Matthew  v.,  while  the 
lar-'e  Fuh  below  is  the  character  for  happiness  or  blessedness. 

"  To  fare  page  173. 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  173 

and  was  now  in  possession  of  the  larger  part  of  the  Yangtze 
Valley,  including  the  famous  city  of  Nanking.  There,  in 
the  former  capital  of  the  Empire,  the  new  ruler  had  estab- 
lished his  seat  of  government,  and  with  a  conquered  country 
behind  him  had  rallied  his  forces  for  the  march  upon 
Peking.  But  it  was  not  only  the  success  attending  this 
movement  that  made  it  a  matter  of  such  extraordinary 
interest  in  Christian  lands.  There  was  about  it  a  character 
such  as  no  analogous  events  in  history  had  ever  possessed 
before. 

Arising  among  a  heathen  people,  entirely  apart  from 
foreign  influence,  this  mighty  upheaval,  as  far  as  it  had  yet 
developed,  appeared  to  be  a  crusade  upon  distinctively 
Christian  lines.  Its  basis  was  the  Bible  ;  but  little  under- 
stood, alas,  in  its  spiritual  teachings  !  The  Ten  Command- 
ments formed  the  moral  code  of  the  new  kingdom.  Idolatry 
in  all  its  phases  was  abolished  with  unsparing  hand,  and  the 
worship  of  the  true  and  living  God  substituted,  in  purpose 
at  any  rate.  The  Christian  Sabbath  was  recognised  as  a 
day  of  rest  and  prayer,  and  all  restrictions  were  removed 
from  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

"  I  have  promulgated  the  Ten  Commandments/'  wrote  the  Tai- 
ping  leader  to  the  only  missionary  of  his  acquaintance/  "  throughout 
the  army  and  the  rest  of  the  population,  and  have  taught  them  all  to 
pray,  morning  and  evening.  Still  those  who  understand  the  Gospel 
are  not  many.  Therefore  I  deem  it  right  to  send  the  messenger  in 
person  to  wish  you  peace,  and  to  request  you.  Elder  Brother,  if  you 
are  not  disposed  to  abandon  me,  to  (come  and)  bring  with  you  many 
teachers  to  help  in  making  known  the  Truth  and  to  administer  the 
ordinance  of  baptism.  .  .  . 

"  Hereafter,  when  my  enterprise  is  successfully  terminated,  I  will 

1  This  was  the  Rev.  F.  J.  Roberts  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union.  Hung  Siu-ts'iien,  founder  and  leader  of  the  Tai-ping  movement, 
first  learned  the  Truth  from  a  tract  given  him  during  a  literary  examination 
in  Canton,  by  Liang  A-fah,  one  of  Morrison's  converts.  Subsequently  he 
returned  to  Canton  to  hear  more  of  the  New  Doctrine,  and  spent  two  or 
three  months  in  studying  the  Scriptures  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Roberts. 
Though  he  did  not  remain  long  enough  to  be  baptized  and  received  into 
Church  fellowship,  he  had  learned  enough  of  the  spirit  and  teaching  of 
Christianity  to  make  him  a  missionary  to  his  own  people  on  his  return 
to  Kwang-si,  the  province  in  which  his  fervent  propaganda  began.  It  was 
not  until  bitter  persecution  from  the  Chinese  authorities  had  driven  his 
followers  to  arms,  that  the  movement  took  on  a  revolutionary  character. 


174  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

disseminate  the  Doctrine  throughout  the  whole  Empire,  that  all  may 
return  to  the  one  Lord  and  worship  the  true  God  only.  This  is  what 
my  heart  earnestly  desires." 

Scarcely  less  surprising  was  their  attitude  toward  Western 
nations.  Opium-smoking  was  utterly  prohibited,  and  T'ien- 
teh  ^  made  no  secret  of  his  purpose  to  stop  the  importation 
from  abroad.  But  for  foreigners  as  such,  their  Christian 
"  brothers  "  from  across  the  seas,  they  expressed  a  cordiality 
of  feeling  wholly  contrary  to  Chinese  pride  and  prejudice. 

"  The  great  God,"  they  said,  "  is  the  universal  Father  of  all  under 
Heaven.  China  is  under  His  government  and  care.  Foreign  nations 
are  equally  so.  There  are  many  men  under  heaven,  but  all  are 
brethren.  Many  women  are  under  heaven,  but  all  are  sisters.  Why 
should  we  continue  the  selfish  practice  of  regarding  a  boundary  here 
or  a  limit  there  ?  Why  indulge  the  wish  to  devour  and  consume  one 
another  ? " 

In  a  word,  it  seemed  as  though  the  hoary  exclusiveness 
of  China  as  well  as  its  heathen  systems  would  soon  be  swept 
away  before  Christian  light  and  teaching,  and  the  whole 
country  thrown  open  to  the  influence  of  the  Gospel.^  From 
every  standpoint  the  prospect  was  inspiring,  and  Christian 
hearts  could  not  but  beat  high  with  hope  and  expectation. 
No  wonder  Hudson  Taylor  with  many  others  saw  in  all  this 
the  moving  of  God's  providence.  What  kings  and  govern- 
ments could  never  have  accomplished,  was  not  He  in  His 
own  wonderful  way  rapidly  bringing  to  pass  ?  But  how 
immense  the  responsibility  thus  imposed  upon  the  Church, 
and  how  little  prepared  was  she  to  meet  it  ! 

No  wonder  also  in  view  of  all  these  happenings  that 
though  he  was  studying  medicine  Hudson  Taylor  felt  no 

^  The  title  taken  by  the  Tai-ping  leader  or  "  Emperor." 
^  T'ien-teh  was  probably  the  only  aspirant  to  a  throne  who  ever  made 
it  a  chief  object  to  print  and  circulate  the  Christian  Scriptures.  So  eager 
was  he  that  his  people  should  possess  the  Word  of  God  that  he  kept  four 
hundred  men  employed  in  Nanking,  under  his  own  supervision,  printing  and 
binding  various  books  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  The  version 
used  was  that  of  Dr.  Gutzlaff,  which  thus  found  its  way  in  actual  fact  to 
the  remotest  part  of  the  empire.  The  title-page  of  every  copy  bore  the 
inscription  :  "A  new  edition,  published  in  the  third  year  of  the  Tai-ping 
Dynasty."  Around  the  title  itself,  the  imperial  arms  were  emblazoned, 
and  a  large  red  stamp,  four  inches  square,  stated  that  the  book  was  sent 
out  on  the  authority  of  the  new  emperor,  the  man  before  whom  Peking 
itself  trembled. 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  175 

inclination  to  tie  himself  down  to  distinctively  medical 
work.  His  desire  was  to  use  his  knowledge  rather  as  an  aid 
to  evangelisation  in  districts  that  had  never  yet  been  reached. 
This  was  the  work  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  him  ;  deep 
down  in  his  own  soul  he  knew  it  beyond  a  doubt.'  But 
whether  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  would  approve 
was  quite  another  question. 

To  judge  from  their  Rules  and  Regulations  they  would 
expect,  at  any  rate,  to  maintain  absolute  control  over  the 
movements  of  their  representatives.  These  were  spoken 
of  as  Agents,  and  were  expected  to  subscribe  to  by-laws 
that  perplexed  him  with  their  detailed  requirements  ;  and 
over  against  all  this  was  his  growing  conviction  about  the 
work  to  which  he  personally  was  called.  The  hand  of  God 
was  upon  him.  So  far  as  he  was  concerned,  this  was  the 
great  fact,  the  chief  consideration.  And  if  the  rightful 
authority  of  the  Committee  in  London  had  to  be  considered 
as  well,  how  would  the  two  fit  in  ? 

"  There  is  one  point  about  which  I  have  not  yet  made  up  my  mind  " 
he  wrote  to  his  mother  on  April  5.  "  If  at  the  expense  of  the  Society 
I  pass  my  examinations^  take  one  or  more  degrees,  go  out  to  China  and 
commence  hospital  work,  how  could  I  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  sever 
the  connection  and  go  into  the  interior  if  called  to  do  so  ? 

'^  It  certainly  does  not  seem  to  me  that  permanent  work  in  one  place, 
medical  or  otherwise,  has  been  the  way  most  used  of  God  in  the  con- 
version of  multitudes.  Paul  and  the  apostles  of  old,  Wesley,  Whitfield, 
and  others  largely  used  in  modern  times  have  been  travelling  preachers  • 
and  I  do  not  feel  at  all  sure  that  I  should  be  right  in  binding  myself  to 
a  different  course  of  action,  I  shall  be  thankful  to  have  your  opinion 
on  these  points,  and  your  prayers  for  Divine  guidance  in  all  my  ways. 

"  That  the  Rules  I  mention,"  he  continued  a  httle  later,  "  are 
reasonable  and  necessary  for  the  Society,  I  do  not  doubt.  I  see  also 
that  after  three  years  and  a  half  I  might  be  legally  free  to  act  in- 
dependently, if  I  so  desired.  But  I  put  it  to  you,  Mother,  would  it 
be  honourable,  would  you  like  me  to  take  advantage  of  such  a  situa- 
tion ?  After  the  Society  had  borne  the  expense  of  my  medical  educa- 
tion and  of  sending  me  to  China,  and  I  had  been  there  long  enough 
to  begin  to  be  useful,  would  you  approve  my  leaving  them  just  as 
soon  as  I  could  do  so  legally  ? 

"  And  since  it  is  my  decided  opinion  that  such  would  be  my  course, 
how  can  I  honestly  accept  their  aid  ?    Where  is  the  probability  that 


176  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

I  should  ever  be  able  to  refund  such  an  expenditure  ?    These  diffi- 
culties seem  to  me  insurmountable." 

He  was  acting,  certainly,  on  principles  the  Master  com- 
mended— sitting  down  to  count  the  cost  before  beginning  to 
build.  Well  would  it  be  if  all  intending  missionaries  would 
do  the  same  to-day.  And  as  he  prayed  and  pondered  he 
began  to  see  that  even  his  present  position  was  compromising. 
The  Society  was  already  bearing,  in  part,  the  expense  of 
his  medical  education.  If  he  went  on  and  completed  it, 
it  would  cost  them  over  a  hundred  pounds.  Already  he 
was  letting  himself  be  involved  in  obligations  he  might  not 
be  able  to  discharge  without  unfaithfulness  to  the  most 
binding  thing  in  all  his  life,  the  will  of  God. 

This  was  a  serious  situation,  and  one  that  called  for 
immediate  consideration.  Should  he  go  on  as  he  was, 
allowing  the  Society  to  misunderstand  to  some  extent  his 
intentions  ?  Or  should  he  explain  all,  and  run  the  risk  of 
losing  their  aid  ?  Must  he  abandon  his  medical  studies  now, 
when  he  really  seemed  on  the  way  to  completing  them,  and 
work  his  way  out  to  China  as  a  self-supporting  missionary  ? 

It  is  easy  enough  in  these  very  different  days  to  smile  at 
what  may  seem  over-conscientious  scruples,  but  to  Hudson 
Taylor  it  was  a  more  perplexing  position  than  we  can  readily 
understand.  Missionary  agencies  were  comparatively  few 
and  far  between,  and  he  knew  of  only  this  one  with  which 
he  as  an  unordained  man  could  become  connected.  In- 
dividuals did  not  then  send  out  and  support  their  own 
representatives,  nor  was  he  in  fellowship  with  any  Church 
that  could  sustain  him.  Practically  it  meant  that  he  must 
either  become  an  agent  of  the  C.E.S.,  subject  to  aU  their 
regulations,  or  else  go  out  in  faith,  looking  to  the  Lord  to 
supply  his  needs  or  provide  him  with  employment  in  which 
he  could  be  self-supporting.  And  the  choice  had  to  be  made 
immediately. 

From  early  April  till  the  end  of  May  these  problems 
exercised  his  mind.  He  could  not  let  things  drift,  but  still 
less  could  he  act  before  he  was  sure  of  the  guidance  of  God. 
Full  many  a  prayer  in  those  lovely  spring  days  might  have 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  177 

been  measured  by  the  mile,  as  he  went  up  and  down  between 
the  hospital  and  St.  Mary  Axe,  but  when  the  time  came  to 
go  forward  he  did  so  without  hesitation. 

"With  regard  to  my  passing  the  College  of  Surgeons,"  he  wrote 
to  his  mother  in  May,  "  I  have  written  to  Mr.  Bird  stating  the  reasons 
that  appear  to  me  as  obstacles  to  my  entering  at  their  expense.  It  is 
necessary  for  the  well-being  of  the  Society  that  its  missionaries  should 
be  subject  to  the  Board  of  Management.  .  .  ,  Their  rules  are  no 
doubt  reasonable  and  essential  for  such  an  organisation.  But  to  me 
to  be  educated  at  their  expense  and  of  course  subject  to  these  regula- 
tions would  be  like  removing  myself  from  the  direct  and  personal 
leading  of  God,  because  I  should  become  the  servant  of  the  Society. 
Having  no  money  I  could  not  release  myself  honourably,  and  in  any 
case,  for  nine  months  at  least  (the  period  required  as  notice)  I  should 
be  unable  to  act.  Now,  it  is  possible  to  pay  too  dearly  even  for  great 
advantages,  and  this  is  more  than  my  conscience  allows  me  to  do. 

"  If  I  am  guided  by  God  in  going  out,  He  will  open  the  way  and 
provide  the  means  required.  If  a  degree  is  necessary.  He  will  supply 
the  means  for  that  also.  If  it  is  not  necessary,  it  will  be  better 
for  the  time  and  money  to  be  otherwise  employed.  And  if  I  am 
not  called  to  go,  far  better  for  all  concerned  that  I  should  not  leave 
England. 

"  But  do  not  think  from  my  using  this  form  of  expression  that  I 
am  at  all  doubtful,  for  I  never  have  had  a  doubt  on  the  subject.  My 
mind  is  kept  in  perfect  peace,  stayed  on  Him  who  is  the  Rock 
of  Ages  ;  and  I  am  willing  either  to  take  a  degree  or  not,  as  He  sees 
fit  to  order.  ...  I  have  been  enjoying  great  rest  of  heart  lately 
.  .  .  and  often  feel  the  goodness  of  God  in  a  way  that  cannot  be 
expressed.  .  .  . 

"  If  in  the  time  required  to  make  me  an  M.D.  or  M.R.C.S.,  or  both, 
I  am  instrumental  in  leading  any  poor  Chinese  to  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
how  much  better  would  that  appear  in  the  eternal  ages  !  Oh  for 
grace  really  to  live  out  that  beautiful  verse  : 

I  all  on  earth  forsake, 

Its  wisdom,  fame  and  power  ; 
And  Him  my  only  Portion  make. 

My  Shield  and  Tower. 

"  How  very  little  many  considerations  that  weigh  with  us  now 
will  appear  as  we  look  back  upon  them  from  the  eternal  ages  !  Then 
we  shall  reckon  indeed  that  '  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  '  were 
'  not  worthy  to  be  compared  '  with  the  glory  that  was  to  follow. 
Would  that  we  always  did  so  here  and  now." 

N 


178  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

But  all  this  preoccupation  with  important  matters  was 
not  allowed  to  interfere  with  daily  duties  and  with  thought- 
fulness  for  those  around  him.^  Like  Dr.  Hardey  in  Hull, 
Mr.  Brown  soon  discovered  that  he  had  a  valuable  assistant, 
and  among  the  patients  for  whom  Hudson  Taylor  cared 
more  than  one  had  reason  to  thank  God  for  his  solicitude 
for  soul  as  well  as  body.  For  he  did  not  attempt  to  evade 
or  to  defer  the  supreme  duty  of  leading  men  to  Christ. 
The  unsaved  at  home  were  just  as  much  a  burden  on  his 
heart  as  the  unsaved  in  China.  Always  and  everywhere 
he  was  a  soul- winner. 

One  among  Mr.  Brown's  patients,  for  example,  caused 
him  no  little  concern  at  this  time.  He  had  been  a  hard 
drinker,  and  now  in  middle -life  was  suffering  the  bitter 
consequences  of  sin.  His  condition  was  serious,  and  his 
hatred  of  everything  to  do  with  religion  so  intense  that  it 
seemed  hopeless  to  try  to  influence  him. 

"  The  Lord  had  given  me  the  joy  of  winning  souls  before,"  wrote 
Hudson  Taylor,  recalling  this  experience, "  but  never  in  surroundings 
of  such  peculiar  difficulty.  With  God,  however,  all  things  are  possible, 
and  no  conversion  ever  takes  place  save  by  the  almighty  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  great  need  of  every  Christian  worker  is  to  know 
God.  ...  I  was  now  to  prove  His  willingness  to  answer  prayer  for 
spiritual  blessing  under  most  unpromising  circumstances,  and  thus 
to  gain  an  increased  acquaintance  with  the  prayer-answering  God  as 
One  '  mighty  to  save.' 

"  A  short  time  before  leaving  for  China  it  became  my  daily  duty 
to  dress  the  foot  of  a  patient  suffering  from  senile  gangrene.    The 

'  The  impression  made  by  the  young  assistant  upon  those  with  whom 
he  Hved  at  this  time  may  be  judged  from  the  following  recollections,  kindly 
communicated  to  the  writers  more  than  fifty  years  later  by  a  member 
of  Mr.  Brown's  family. 

"  Early  in  1853,  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor  went  to  assist  Mr.  Thomas  Brown, 
Surgeon,  who  then  resided  at  the  comer  of  St.  Mary  Axe  and  Camomile 
Street,  London.  Mr.  Brown's  youngest  child  was  a  baby  of  a  year  old. 
Dr.  Brown  did  not  approve  of  perambulators  for  children  Uving  in  the  city, 
so  on  week-days  the  baby  went  out  in  his  father's  carriage.  On  Sundays, 
however.  Dr.  Brown  never  took  any  of  the  children  with  him  on  his  neces- 
sary rounds.  As  little  Henry  was  too  heavy  for  his  nurse  to  carry,  he 
would  have  had  to  remain  indoors  all  Sunday,  if  Mr.  Taylor  had  not  taken 
compassion  on  him.  But  he  was  fond  of  children,  and  before  church  time 
on  Sunday  used  to  carry  the  httle  fellow  in  his  arms  around  Finsbury 
Circus  which  was  near  at  hand.  Soon  after  Mr.  Taylor  left  for  China, 
Dr.  Brown  and  his  family  moved  to  Finsbury  Circus,  where  one  of  his 
sons  still  practises. — Mary  E.  Brown," 


I 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  179 

disease  commenced  as  usual  insidiously,  and  the  patient  had  little 
idea  that  he  was  a  doomed  man  and  probably  had  not  long  to  live. 
I  was  not  the  first  to  attend  him,  but  when  the  case  was  transferred 
to  me  I  naturally  became  very  anxious  about  his  soul.  The  family 
with  whom  he  lived  were  Christians,  and  from  them  I  learned  that  he 
was  an  avowed  atheist  and  very  antagonistic  to  anything  religious. 
They  had  without  asking  his  consent  invited  a  Scripture  reader  to 
visit  him,  but  in  great  passion  he  had  ordered  him  from  the  room. 
The  Vicar  of  the  district  had  also  called,  hoping  to  help  him,  but  he 
had  spit  in  his  face  and  refused  to  allow  him  to  speak.  His  temper 
was  described  to  me  as  very  violent,  and  altogether  the  case  seemed 
as  hopeless  as  could  well  be  imagined. 

"  Upon  first  commencing  to  attend  him  I  prayed  much  about  it, 
but  for  two  or  three  days  said  nothing  of  a  religious  nature.  By 
special  care  in  dressing  his  diseased  limb  I  was  able  considerably  to 
lessen  his  sufferings,  and  he  soon  began  to  manifest  appreciation  of 
my  services.  One  day  with  a  trembling  heart  I  took  advantage  of  his 
grateful  acknowledgments  to  tell  him  what  was  the  spring  of  my 
action,  and  to  speak  of  his  solemn  position  and  need  of  God's  mercy 
through  Christ.  It  was  evidently  only  a  powerful  effort  of  self- 
restraint  that  kept  his  lips  closed.  He  turned  over  in  bed  with  his 
back  to  me,  and  uttered  no  word. 

"  I  could  not  get  the  poor  man  out  of  my  mind,  and  very  often 
through  each  day  I  pleaded  with  God,  by  His  Spirit,  to  save  him  ere 
He  took  him  hence.  After  dressing  the  wound  and  relieving  the  pain, 
I  never  failed  to  say  a  few  words  to  him  which  I  hoped  the  Lord  would 
bless.  He  always  turned  his  back  looking  annoyed,  but  never  made 
any  reply. 

"  After  continuing  this  for  some  time  my  heart  sank.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  I  was  not  only  doing  no  good  but  perhaps  really  harden- 
ing him  and  increasing  his  guilt.  One  day  after  dressing  his  limb  and 
washing  my  hands,  instead  of  returning  to  the  bedside,  I  went  to  the 
door  and  stood  hesitating  a  moment  with  the  thought  in  my  mind, 
'  Ephraim  is  joined  to  his  idols,  let  him  alone.'  Looking  at  my 
patient  I  saw  his  surprise,  as  it  was  the  first  time  since  opening  the 
subject  that  I  had  attempted  to  leave  without  saying  a  few  words  for 
my  Master. 

"  I  could  bear  it  no  longer.  Bursting  into  tears,  I  crossed  the  room 
and  said  :  '  My  friend,  whether  you  will  hear  or  whether  you  will 
forbear,  I  must  deliver  my  soul,'  and  went  on  to  speak  very  earnestly, 
teUing  him  how  much  I  wished  that  he  would  let  me  pray  with  him. 
To  my  unspeakable  joy  he  did  not  turn  away,  but  replied  : 

" '  If  it  will  be  a  relief  to  you,  do.' 

"  I  need  scarcely  say  that  falling  upon  my  knees  I  poured  out  my 
soul  to  God  on  his  behalf.    Then  and  there,  I  believe,  the  Lord  wrought 


i8o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

a  change  in  his  soul.  He  was  never  afterwards  unwiUing  to  be  spoken 
to  and  prayed  with,  and  within  a  few  days  he  definitely  accepted 
Christ  as  his  Saviour. 

"  Oh  the  joy  it  was  to  me  to  see  that  dear  man  rejoicing  in  hope  of 
the  glory  of  God  !  He  told  me  that  for  forty  years  he  had  never 
darkened  the  door  of  a  church  or  chapel,  and  that  then,  forty  years 
ago,  he  had  only  entered  a  place  of  worship  to  be  married,  and  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  go  inside  when  his  wife  was  buried.  Now,  thank 
God,  his  sin-stained  soul  I  had  every  reason  to  beUeve  was  washed, 
was  sanctified,  was  '  justified,  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  by 
the  Spirit  of  our  God.'  Often  in  my  early  work  in  China,  when 
circumstances  rendered  me  almost  hopeless  of  success,  I  have  thought 
of  this  man's  conversion  and  have  been  encouraged  to  persevere  in 
speaking  the  Word,  whether  men  would  hear  or  whether  they  would 
forbear. 

"  The  now  happy  sufferer  lived  for  some  time  after  this  change, 
and  was  never  tired  of  bearing  testimony  to  the  grace  of  God.  Though 
his  condition  was  most  distressing,  the  alteration  in  his  character  and 
behaviour  made  the  previously  painful  duty  of  attending  him  one  of 
real  pleasure.  I  have  often  thought  since  in  connection  with  this  case 
and  the  work  of  God  generally  of  the  words,  '  He  that  goeth  forth 
weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  rejoicing, 
bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.'  Perhaps  if  there  were  more  of  that 
intense  distress  for  souls  that  leads  to  tears,  we  should  more  frequently 
see  the  results  we  desire.  Sometimes  it  may  be  that  while  we  are 
complaining  of  the  hardness  of  the  hearts  of  those  we  are  seeking  to 
benefit,  the  hardness  of  our  own  hearts  and  our  own  feeble  appre- 
hension of  the  solemn  reality  of  eternal  things  may  be  the  true  cause 
of  our  want  of  success." 

Very  shortly  after  this  the  way  cleared  suddenly  for 
Hudson  Taylor.  All  had  seemed  uncertain  before  him,  and 
especially  since  his  letter  to  Mr.  Bird  about  discontinuing 
his  studies  he  had  scarcely  been  able  to  see  a  step  ahead. 
Very  earnestly  had  he  been  in  prayer  for  guidance,  longing 
with  all  his  heart  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God.  And 
now  the  light  shone  suddenly,  and  in  the  way  he  had 
least  expected  :  because  the  time  had  come,  and  there  is 
behind  events,  as  the  old  prophet  tells  us, "  a  God  ,  .  .  which 
worketh  for  him  that  waiteth  for  Him."  ^ 

In  the  room  of  the  C.E.S.  sat  one  of  the  secretaries  writing 
a  letter.     It  was  June  4,  and  events  had  succeeded  one 

'   Isaiah  Ixiv.  4,  R.V. 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  i8i 

another  in  China  with  startUng  rapidity.  Since  their  con- 
quest of  Nanking  in  March,  the  Tai-pings  had  carried  all 
before  them,  sweeping  over  the  central  and  northern  provinces 
until  Peking  itself  was  almost  within  their  grasp.  Nothing, 
it  seemed,  could  save  the  tottering  dynasty,  unless  foreign 
powers  could  be  persuaded  to  intervene.  Sir  George  Bon- 
ham,  the  British  Representative,  after  a  visit  to  Nanking 
had  brought  back  a  report  very  favourable  to  the  Tai-pings. 
"  The  insurgents  are  Christians,"  wrote  the  North  China 
Herald  for  May  7  ;  and  the  religious  aspect  of  the  move- 
ment seemed  to  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  their  power. ^ 

This  could  mean  but  one  thing  :  if  Peking  surrendered, 
the  seclusion  of  ages  was  at  an  end  and  China  would  forth- 
with be  thrown  open  to  the  Gospel.  The  very  possibility, 
imminent  as  it  was,  proved  a  powerful  stimulus  to  missionary 
effort.  Christian  hearts  everywhere  were  aflame.  Some- 
thing must  be  done  and  done  at  once  to  meet  so  great  a 
crisis  !     And  for  a  time,  money  poured  into  the  treasuries.^ 

In  the  light  of  these  new  developments  the  Committee 
of  the  C.E.S.  had  been  reconsidering  their  position.  The 
only  representative  they  had  in  China  was  the  German 
missionary  Lobscheid,  labouring  near  Canton.  They  had 
long  wished  to  supply  him  with  a  fellow-worker,  and  now 
decided  to  send  two  men  to  Shanghai  also  to  be  ready  for 
pending  developments.  Money  was  not  the  difficulty, 
their  income  having  considerably  increased  within  the  last 
few  months,  but  men,  suitable  men,  would  not  be  easy  to  find. 

Thus  it  was  that  early  in  June,  as  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Bird 

1  What  the  Tai-ping  propaganda  might  have  become,  had  it  retained 
its  earlier  characteristics,  who  can  say  ?  Success,  as  is  so  often  the  case, 
led  to  dissension  and  dechne.  From  the  zenith  of  its  triumphant  advance 
on  Peking  commenced  this  summer  {1853),  it  degenerated  into  a  corrupt 
poUtical  movement,  deluging  the  country  with  blood  and  sufterings  untold 
during  the  eleven  remaining  years  of  its  course.  Even  so  the  Imperial 
Government  was  powerless  to  bring  it  to  an  end  until  succoured  by  Western 
Powers.  England,  in  the  person  of  General  Gordon,  Chinese  Gordon  as  he 
is  still  appreciatively  called,  delivered  the  empire  at  last  from  what  had 
become  an  intolerable  evil.     Nanking  fell  before  General  Gordon  in  18O4. 

2  So  great  was  the  interest  in  the  Tai-ping  Rebellion  and  the  hope  that 
by  the  sympathetic  co-operation  of  Christian  nations  it  might  lead  to  the 
conversion  of  multitudes  to  Christianity,  that  in  September  of  this  year 
(1853)  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  decided  to  celebrate  its 
Jubilee  by  printing  a  million  New  Testaments  for  use  in  that  country,  an 
undertaking  almost  incredibly  great  in  those  days. 


i82  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

sat  in  his  office  writing  as  follows  to  one  in  whom  they  had 
every  confidence,  the  young  medical  student,  Hudson 
Taylor. 

17  Red  Lion  Square, 
June  4,  1853. 

My  dear  Sir— As  you  have  fully  made  up  your  mind  to  go  to 
China,  and  also  not  to  qualify  as  a  Surgeon,  I  would  affectionately 
suggest  that  you  lose  no  time  in  preparing  to  start.  At  this  time  we 
want  really  devoted  men,  and  I  believe  your  heart  is  right  before  God 
and  your  motives  pure,  so  that  you  need  not  hesitate  in  offering. 

I  think  you  will  find  a  difficulty  in  carrying  out  your  plan  [of  self- 
support],  as  even  Mr.  Lobscheid  could  not  get  a  free  passage.  It  is 
a  very  difficult  thing  to  obtain.  The  expense  for  a  single  man  is  about 
£60.  Might  not  the  time  you  want  to  spend  in  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  Ophthalmics  be  spent  more  profitably  in  China  ? 

If  you  think  it  right  to  offer  yourself,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  lay 
your  application  before  the  Board.  It  is  an  important  step,  and 
much  earnest  prayer  is  needed.  But  guidance  will  be  given.  Do  all 
with  thy  might,  and  speedily.— I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

Charles  Bird. 

It  was  Saturday  afternoon  and  the  letter  still  lay  on  the 
desk,  when  a  knock  came,  and  the  young  man  to  whom  it 
was  addressed  quietly  entered. 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  the  Secretary,  "  I  have  just  been 
writing  to  you  !     The  letter  is  not  yet  posted." 

Long  and  earnest  was  the  conversation  that  followed, 
for  the  suggestion  made  was  a  great  surprise  to  Hudson 
Taylor.  Constantly  as  China  had  been  before  his  mind  for 
three  and  a  half  years,  it  seemed  rather  overwhelming  to 
think  of  sailing  as  soon  as  a  vessel  could  be  found.  Besides, 
there  were  all  those  questions  about  the  future  and  his 
uncertainty  as  to  whether  he  ought  to  connect  himself 
with  any  Society.  Mr.  Bird  was  evidently  sympathetic 
and  helpful,  and  the  younger  man  went  home  with  much 
to  lay  before  the  Lord. 

How  strange  the  difference  that  had  come  over  every- 
thing as  he  retraced  his  steps  toward  St.  Mary  Axe.  The 
same  June  sunlight  shone  on  London  streets,  the  same  birds 
twittered  in  the  open  spaces,  but  he  walked  as  in  a  new 
^oi-ld — that  far  vista  opening  before  him.  Could  it  be 
possible  that  all  that  had  hitherto  blocked  his  way  to  China 


LIGHT  AT  LAST  183 

had  indeed  vanished  ;  that  the  Society  was  not  only  wilhng 
but  anxious  to  send  him  out  ?  Then  God's  time  surely 
must  have  come,  and  he  could  not  hold  back. 

"  Mr.  Bird  has  removed  most  of  the  objections  and  difficulties  I 
have  been  feeling/'  he  wrote  to  his  mother  the  following  day,  "  and 
I  think  it  will  be  well  to  comply  with  his  suggestions  and  at  once' 
propose  myself  to  the  Committee.  I  shall  await  your  answer,  how- 
ever, and  rely  upon  your  prayers.  If  I  should  be  accepted  to  go  at 
once,  would  you  advise  me  to  come  home  before  sailing  ?  I  long  to 
be  with  you  once  more,  and  I  know  you  would  naturally  wish  to  see 
me  ;  but  I  almost  think  it  would  be  easier  for  us  not  to  meet,  than 
having  met  to  part  again  forever.     No,  not  forever  ! 

A  little  while  :    'twill  soon  be  past  ! 

Why  should  we  shun  the  promised  cross  ? 
Oh  let  us  in  His  footsteps  haste. 

Counting  for  Him  all  else  but  loss  : 
Then,  how  will  recompense  His  smile 
The  sufferings  of  this  little  while  ! 

"  I  cannot  write  more,  but  hope  to  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  possible. 
Pray  much  for  me.  It  is  easy  to  talk  of  leaving  all  for  Christ,  but 
when  it  comes  to  the  proof— it  is  only  as  we  stand  '  complete  in  Him  ' 
we  can  go  through  with  it. 

"  God  be  with  you  and  bless  you,  my  own  dear,  dear  mother,  and 
give  you  so  to  realise  the  preciousness  of  Jesus  that  you  may  wish  for 
nothing  but  '  to  know  Him  '  .  .  .  even  in  '  the  fellowship  of  His 
sufferings.'  " 

"  '  Pray  for  me,  dear  Amelia,'  he  continued  later,  '  that  He  who 
has  promised  to  meet  all  our  need  may  be  with  me  in  this  painful 
though  long-expected  hour.' 

"  When  we  look  at  ourselves— at  the  littleness  of  our  love,  the 
barrenness  of  our  service,  and  the  small  progress  we  make  toward 
perfection— how  soul-refreshing  it  is  to  turn  and  gaze  on  Him  ;  to 
plunge  afresh  in  '  the  fountain  opened  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness  '  ; 
to  remember  that  we  are  '  accepted  in  the  Beloved  '  •  •  •  '  who  of 
God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom  and  righteousness  and  sanctification 
and  redemption.'     Oh  the  fulness  of  Christ :  the  fulness  of  Christ !  " 


CHAPTER  XV 

I   WILL   NEVER   LEAVE   THEE 
September  i853-I\Iarch  1854.    Aet.  21. 

Moored  at  her  landing  in  a  Liverpool  dock  lay  the  double- 
masted  sailing-ship  Dumfries,  bound  for  China.  A  little 
vessel  of  barely  four  hundred  and  seventy  tons,  she  was 
carrying  but  one  passenger,  so  there  were  few  well-wishers 
to  see  her  off.  Repairs  that  had  delayed  her  sailing  had 
just  been  hurried  to  completion,  and  the  crew  were  still 
busy  getting  the  cargo  on  board.  But  in  the  stern  cabin, 
amid  the  din  and  hubbub,  all  was  peace  as  Hudson  Taylor 
knelt  in  prayer  for  the  last  time  with  his  mother. 

Hardly  could  they  reaUse  that  it  was  indeed  the  last 
time  for  so  long.  Since  the  decision  of  the  Committee  there 
had  been  much  to  do  and  think  of,  and  they  had  had  little 
time  to  dwell  upon  the  meaning  of  it  all.  And  now  the 
parting  had  come.  After  a  visit  to  Barnsley  where  he  took 
leave  of  his  sisters,  and  meetings  at  Tottenham  and  in  London 
commending  him  to  God,^  the  outgoing  missionary  had  come 

'  The  following  paragraph  gives  all  the  notice  that  appeared  in  The 
Gleaner  of  Hudson  Taylor's  departure  for  China  : 

"  On  Friday,  the  gth  of  September,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  at  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,  for  the 
purpose  of  commending  to  the  protection  and  blessing  of  God,  Mr.  James 
Hudson  Taylor,  on  going  out  as  a  missionary  to  China.  Mr.  J.  H.  Taylor 
embarked  on  the  Dumfries,  Captain  A.  Morris,  for  Shanghai,  The  vessel 
left  Liverpool  on  the  19th  of  September." 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  same  day  witnessed  also  the  de- 
parture for  China  of  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Nevius  (of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Mission)  with  his  bride.  They  sailed  from  Boston  "  in  a  small,  old,  un- 
seaworthy  vessel,"  and  after  a  trying  voyage  round  Cape  Horn  arrived 
in   Shanghai    just    three   weeks  later  than    Mr.    Hudson   Taylor.     These 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  185 

on  to  Liverpool,  where  he  had  been  joined  by  his  mother. 
His  father  too  had  been  there,  and  Mr.  Pearse  representing 
the  Chinese  Evangehsation  Society,  but  on  account  of  delays 
in  the  sailing  of  the  ship  they  had  been  obliged  to  return. 
So  the  mother  and  son  were  much  alone  as  the  time  drew 
near,  and  her  account  of  the  parting  written  for  those  at 
home  is  of  special  interest. 

On  Sunday  J  September  18,  Hudson  was  much  blessed  through 
the  services  of  the  day.  His  soul  was  filled  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
in  the  evening  he  wrote  a  few  farewell  letters  to  relatives  and  friends, 
full  of  affection^  and  bearing  such  testimony  to  the  sustaining  power 
of  grace  as  made  it  evident  that  he  could  freely  and  cheerfully  leave 
all,  to  carry  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  to  those  regions  of 
spiritual  darkness  so  long  the  object  of  his  desires,  and  for  which  he 
had  studied,  laboured  and  prayed. 

Seeing  me  in  tears,  he  said  : 

"  Oh  mother,  do  not  grieve  !  I  am  so  happy,  I  cannot !  I'll  tell 
you  what  I  think  is  the  difference  between  us.  You  dwell  on  the 
parting  ;  I  look  on  to  the  meeting  :  "  alluding  to  their  reunion  in  the 
Better  Land. 

Before  retiring  for  the  night  he  read  aloud  part  of  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  John,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  and  engaged  in 
prayer.  The  throne  of  grace  was  easy  of  access  ;  and  while  offering 
thanks  for  mercies  received  and  imploring  continued  blessings  for 
himself,  for  those  he  was  leaving,  for  the  Church  and  for  the  world 
yet  lying  in  the  arms  of  the  wicked  one,  it  was  evident  that  to  him 
this  was  no  strange  work. 

Next  morning  he  went  to  breakfast  at  the  house  of  a  friend  with 
Mr.  Arthur  Taylor  (no  relative)  who  was  to  embark  a  fortnight  later 
for  Hong-kong — a  fellow-missionary  also  sent  out  by  the  Chinese 
Evangelisation  Society.  About  ten  o'clock  we  met  in  the  cabin  of 
the  Dumfries,  and  were  shortly  afterwards  joined  by  Mr.  Plunkett, 

distinguished  missionaries  became,  and  continued  through  life,  sincere  and 
valued  friends  of  Mr.  Taylor's. 

But  September  19  is  chiefly  memorable  as  the  day  upon  which  the 
following  decision  was  reached  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

"  The  attention  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  having  been 
directed  to  the  unprecedented  movement  in  China,  and  to  the  hopeful 
prospects  thereby  presented  for  the  wider  introduction  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  into  that  extensive  and  densely  populated  empire,  it  was 
resolved,  September  19,  1853,  '  that  the  Committee,  relying  upon  the 
sympathy  of  the  British  pubhc  in  this  desirable  object,  are  prepared  to  take 
upon  themselves  all  measures  necessary  for  printing,  with  the  least  practic- 
able delay,  one  million  copies  of  the  Chinese  New  Testament.' 

"  Robert  Frost,  George  Brown,  Secretaries." 


i86  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

an  aged  minister  with  whom  we  had  become  acquainted  during  our 
stay  in  Liverpool, 

After  a  httle  conversation,  singing  and  prayer  were  proposed,  and 
Hudson  gave  out  in  a  firm,  clear  voice,  the  beautiful  hymn  : 

How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 

In  a  believer's  ear  ! 
It  soothes  his  sorrows,  heals  his  wounds, 

And  drives  away  his  fear. 

The  good  old  tune  ''  Devizes  "  was  struck  up,  and  he  sang  with  the 
utmost  composure  through  the  whole  hymn.  Mr.  Plunkett  prayed 
for  us  all  as  behevers  in  one  common  Saviour,  and  for  his  two  young 
friends  in  particular,  just  going  out  as  ambassadors  for  the  Prince 
of  Peace. 

Dear  Hudson  then  engaged  in  prayer,  and  a  stranger  would  httle 
have  thought  that  the  firm  tone,  composed  manner  and  joyous  ex- 
pressions were  those  of  a  youth  who  in  a  few  minutes  was  to  bid  adieu 
to  parents,  sisters,  friends,  home  and  country.  But  his  heart  was 
strong  in  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob,  therefore  his  spirit  quailed  not. 
Only  once  was  there  a  slight  falter,  while  commending  the  objects  of 
his  love  to  the  care  of  his  Heavenly  Father — a  momentary  struggle, 
and  all  was  calm  again.  Yet  he  did  not  forget  that  he  was  entering 
upon  a  course  of  trial,  difficulty  and  danger ;  but  looking  forward  to 
it  all  he  exclaimed,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I 
my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy, 
and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify 
the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."     It  was  a  time  ever  to  be  remembered. 

After  Mr.  Arthur  Taylor  had  ofiEered  prayer,  we  rose  from  our  knees 
and  Hudson  read  a  Psalm.  Soon  after  we  went  on  deck,  intending 
to  go  ashore,  when  to  our  surprise  we  found  that  the  vessel  had  left 
her  moorings  and  was  nearly  out  of  dock.  .  .  . 

Then  came  my  moment  of  trial — the  farewell  blessing,  the  parting 
embrace.  A  kind  hand  was  extended  from  the  shore.  I  stepped  off 
the  vessel,  scarce  knowing  what  I  did,  and  was  seated  on  a  piece  of 
timber  lying  close  at  hand.  A  chill  came  over  me  and  I  trembled 
from  head  to  foot.  But  a  warm  arm  was  quickly  round  my  neck  and 
I  was  once  more  pressed  to  his  loving  breast.  Seeing  my  distress  he 
had  leaped  ashore  to  breathe  words  of  consolation. 

"  Dear  Mother,"  he  said,  "  do  not  weep.  It  is  but  for  a  Httle  while, 
and  we  shall  meet  again.  Think  of  the  glorious  object  I  have  in 
leaving  you  !  It  is  not  for  wealth  or  fame,  but  to  try  to  bring  the 
poor  Chinese  to  the  knowledge  of  Jesus." 

As  the  vessel  was  receding  he  was  obliged  to  return,  and  we  lost 
sight  of  him  for  a  minute.  He  had  run  to  his  cabin,  and  hastily 
writing  in  pencil  on  the  blank  leaf  of  a  pocket  Bible,  "  The  love  of  God 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  187 

which  passeih  knowledge — J.  H.  T."  came  back  and  threw  it  to  me  on 
the  pier. 

By-and-by  the  vessel  neared  again  to  receive  the  mate,  who  shook 
us  warmly  by  the  hand  : 

"  Keep  a  brave  heart/'  he  said,  "  I  will  bring  good  news  back 
again." 

Once  more  our  Dear  One  reached  out  his  hand  which  was  eagerly 
grasped.  Another  "  Farewell,  God  bless  you "  was  reciprocated, 
and  the  deep  waters  of  the  Mersey  became  a  separating  gulf  between  us. 

While  we  still  waved  our  handkerchiefs,  watching  the  departing 
ship,  he  took  his  stand  at  its  head  and  afterwards  climbed  into  the 
rigging,  waving  his  hat,  and  looking  more  like  a  victorious  hero  than 
a  stripling  just  entering  the  battlefield.  Then  his  figure  became  less 
and  less  distinct,  and  in  a  few  minutes  passenger  and  ship  were  lost 
to  sight. 

His  own  recollections  of  that  parting,  recorded  long  after, 
show  how  deeply  the  son  too  shared  its  cost. 

After  being  set  apart  with  many  prayers  for  the  ministry  of  God's 
Word  among  the  heathen,  I  left  London  for  Liverpool,  and  on  the  19th 
of  September  1853  a  little  service  was  held  in  the  stern  cabin  of 
the  Dtimfries  which  had  been  secured  for  me  by  the  Chinese  Evangelisa- 
tion Society,  under  whose  auspices  I  was  going  to  China. 

My  beloved,  now  sainted  mother,  had  come  over  to  Liverpool  to 
see  me  off.  Never  shall  I  forget  that  day,  nor  how  she  went  with  me 
into  the  cabin  that  was  to  be  my  home  for  nearly  six  long  months. 
With  a  mother's  loving  hand  she  smoothed  the  little  bed.  She  sat 
by  my  side  and  joined  in  the  last  hymn  we  should  sing  together  before 
parting.  We  knelt  down  and  she  prayed — the  last  mother's  prayer 
I  was  to  hear  before  leaving  for  China.  Then  notice  was  given  that 
we  must  separate,  and  vv'e  had  to  say  good-bye,  never  expecting  to 
meet  on  earth  again. 

For  my  sake  she  restrained  her  feelings  as  much  as  possible.  We 
parted,  and  she  went  ashore  giving  me  her  blessing.  I  stood  alone 
on  deck,  and  she  followed  the  ship  as  we  moved  toward  the  dock- 
gates.  As  we  passed  through  the  gates  and  the  separation  really 
commenced,  never  shall  I  forget  the  cry  of  anguish  wrung  from  that 
mother's  heart.  It  went  through  me  like  a  knife.  I  never  knew  so 
fully,  until  then,  what  "  God  so  loved  the  world  "  meant.  And  I  am 
quite  sure  my  precious  mother  learned  more  of  the  love  of  God  for 
the  perishing  in  that  one  hour  than  in  all  her  life  before. 

Oh  how  it  must  grieve  the  heart  of  God  when  He  sees  His  children 
indifferent  to  the  needs  of  that  wide  world  for  which  His  beloved,  His 
only  Son  suffered  and  died. 


i88  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  voyage  thus  begun  proved  a  time  of  blessing  to  the 
soUtary  passenger  on  board  the  Dumfries.  It  was  long  and 
tedious  in  some  ways,  five  and  a  half  months  during  which 
they  touched  nowhere  and  heard  no  tidings  of  the  rest  of 
the  world.  But  it  was  a  health-giving,  enjoyable  experience 
on  the  whole,  after  the  first  terrible  days  were  over. 

For  never  surely  did  vessel  weather  worse  perils  than  this 
little  sailing  ship  before  she  could  reach  the  open  sea.  It 
almost  seemed  as  though  the  great  enemy,  "  the  prince  of 
the  power  of  the  air,"  knowing  something  of  the  possibilities 
enfolded  in  one  young  life  on  board,  were  doing  his  utmost 
to  send  her  to  the  bottom.  For  twelve  long  days  they  beat 
about  the  Channel,  alternately  sighting  Ireland  and  the 
dangerous  Welsh  coast.  During  the  first  week  they  were 
almost  continuously  in  the  teeth  of  an  equinoctial  gale, 
until  driven  into  Carnarvon  Bay  they  were  within  two 
boats'  length  of  being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks.  That 
midnight  scene  amid  the  foaming  breakers,  and  the  way  in 
which  they  were  delivered  when  all  hope  seemed  gone  made 
so  profound  an  impression  upon  Hudson  Taylor  that  some 
account  of  this  part  of  the  voyage  must  be  culled  from  his 
journal  and  letters. 

"  With  heartfelt  gratitude/'  he  wrote  on  Monday,  September  26, 
"  I  record  the  mercy  of  God.  He  and  He  alone  has  snatched  us  from 
the  jaws  of  death.  May  our  spared  lives  be  spent  entirely  in  His 
service  and  for  His  glory. 

"  All  day  on  Saturday  [the  24th]  the  barometer  kept  falling,  and 
as  darkness  came  on  the  wind  began  to  freshen.  The  sailors  had  a 
hard  night  of  it,  so  the  Captain  did  not  call  them  aft  as  is  his  custom 
to  read  prayers  on  Sunday  morning.  At  noon  it  was  blowing  hard 
and  we  took  in  all  possible  sail,  leaving  only  just  as  much  as  would 
keep  the  ship  steady.  I  distributed  some  tracts  among  the  crew  and 
then  came  down  to  my  cabin,  as  the  increased  motion  was  making 
me  sick.  .  .  . 

"  The  barometer  was  still  falling,  and  the  wind  increased  until  it 
was  a  perfect  hurricane.  The  Captain  and  Mate  said  they  had  never 
seen  a  wilder  sea.  Between  two  and  three  in  the  afternoon  I  managed 
to  get  on  deck,  though  the  pitching  made  it  difficult.  .  .  .  The  scene 
I  shall  never  forget.  It  was  grand  beyond  description.  The  sea, 
lashing  itself  into  fury,  was  white  with  foam.  There  was  a  large  ship 
astern  of  us  and  a  brig  to  our  weather  side.     The  ship  gained  on  us. 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  189 

but  drifted  more.  The  waves,  like  hills  on  either  side,  seemed  as  if 
they  might  swamp  us  at  any  moment  .  .  ,  but  the  ship  bore  up 
bravely.  On  account  of  the  heavy  sea  we  were  making  little  or  no 
headway,  and  the  wind  being  from  the  west  we  were  drifting  quickly, 
irresistibly,  toward  a  lee-shore. 

"  '  Unless  God  help  us,'  said  the  Captain,  '  there  is  no  hope.' 

"  I  asked  how  far  we  might  be  from  the  Welsh  coast. 

"  '  Fifteen  to  sixteen  miles,'  was  his  reply.  '  We  can  do  nothing 
but  carry  all  possible  sail.  The  more  we  carry  the  less  we  drift.  It  is 
for  our  Hves.     God  grant  the  timbers  may  bear  it.' 

"  He  then  had  two  sails  set  on  each  mast. 

"  It  was  a  fearful  time.  The  wind  was  blowing  terrifically,  and 
we  were  tearing  along  at  a  frightful  rate — one  moment  high  in  the  air 
and  the  next  plunging  head  foremost  into  the  trough  of  the  sea  as  if 
about  to  go  to  the  bottom.  The  windward  side  of  the  ship  was  fear- 
fully elevated,  the  lee  side  being  as  much  depressed  ;  indeed  the  sea 
at  times  poured  over  her  lee  bulwarks. 

"  Thus  the  sun  set,  and  I  watched  it  ardently. 

"  '  To-morrow  thou  wilt  rise  as  usual,'  I  thought,  '  but  unless  the 
Lord  work  miraculously  on  our  behalf  a  few  broken  timbers  will  be 
all  that  is  left  of  us  and  our  ship  '  .  .  .  . 

"  The  night  was  cold,  the  wind  biting,  and  the  seas  we  shipped 
continually,  with  foam  and  spray,  wet  us  through  and  through." 

Earlier  in  the  afternoon  he  had  had  a  remarkable  ex- 
perience of  "  great  joy  and  peace,"  in  spite  of  their  desperate 
situation,  but  now  as  the  sun  went  down  a  sense  of  loneliness 
and  desolation  began  to  come  over  him,  so  that  for  a  time 
he  was  "  much  tried  and  very  anxious."  He  thought  of 
the  sorrow  involved  to  his  loved  ones  should  the  Dumfries 
be  lost ;  of  the  expense  to  the  Society,  his  passage  and 
outfit  having  cost  little  short  of  a  hundred  pounds  ;  of  the 
unprepared  state  of  the  crew,  as  well  as  of  "  the  coldness  of 
the  water  and  the  struggle  of  death."  About  his  eternal 
happiness  he  had  not  a  moment's  doubt.  Death  itself  was 
not  dreaded.  But  death  under  such  circumstances  !  No 
one  who  has  not  faced  it  can  begin  to  realise  its  terrors. 

"  I  went  below,"  the  journal  continues  simply,  "  read  a  hymn  or 
two,  some  Psalms  and  John  xiii.-xv.,  and  was  comforted  ;  so  much  so 
that  I  fell  asleep  and  slept  for  an  hour.  We  then  looked  at  the 
barometer  and  found  it  rising.  We  had  passed  the  Bardsey  Island 
Lighthouse,  between  Cardigan  and  Carnarvon  Bays  (nmning  up  the 


igo  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Channel)  and  I  asked  the  Captain  whether  we  could  clear  Holyhead 
or  not. 

"  '  If  we  make  no  lee-way/  he  replied,  '  we  may  just  do  it.  But 
if  we  drift,  God  help  us  ! ' 

"  And  we  did  drift.  .  .  . 

"  First  the  Holyhead  light  was  ahead  of  us,  and  then  on  our  out- 
side. Our  fate  now  seemed  sealed.  I  asked  if  we  were  sure  of  two 
more  hours.  The  Captain  could  not  say  we  were.  The  barometer 
was  still  rising,  but  too  slowly  to  give  much  hope.  I  thought  of  my 
dear  father  and  mother,  sisters  and  special  friends  .  .  .  and  the  tears 
would  start.  .  .  .  The  Captain  was  calm  and  courageous,  trusting 
in  the  Lord  for  his  soul's  salvation.  The  steward  said  he  knew  that 
he  was  nothing,  but  Christ  was  all.  I  felt  thankful  for  them,  but  I 
did  pray  earnestly  that  God  would  have  mercy  on  us  and  spare  us  for 
the  sake  of  the  unconverted  crew  ...  as  well  as  for  His  own  glory 
as  the  God  who  hears  and  answers  prayer.  This  passage  was  then 
brought  to  my  mind  :  '  Call  upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble  ;  I  will 
deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  Me  '  :  and  very  earnestly  I  pleaded 
the  promise,  in  submission  to  His  will. 

"  Our  position  was  now  truly  awful.  The  night  was  very  light, 
the  moon  being  unclouded,  and  we  could  just  see  land  ahead.  I  went 
below.  The  barometer  was  improving,  but  the  wind  in  no  way 
abated.  I  took  out  my  pocket-book  and  wrote  in  it  my  name  and 
home-address,  in  case  my  body  should  be  found.  I  also  tied  a  few 
things  in  a  hamper  which  I  thought  would  float  and  perhaps  help  me 
or  some  one  else  to  land.  Then  commending  my  soul  to  God  my 
Father,  and  my  friends  and  all  to  His  care,  with  one  prayer  that  if  it 
were  possible  this  cup  might  pass  from  us,  I  went  on  deck. 

"  Satan  now  tempted  me  greatly  and  I  had  a  fearful  struggle. 
But  the  Lord  again  calmed  my  mind,  which  from  that  time  was  so 
stayed  upon  Him  that  I  was  kept  in  peace. 

"  I  asked  the  Captain  whether  boats  could  live  in  such  a  sea.  He 
answered, '  No.'  Could  we  not  lash  the  loose  spars  together  and  make 
some  sort  of  raft  ?    He  said  we  should  probably  not  have  time. 

"  The  water  was  now  becoming  white.     Land  was  just  ahead.  .  .  . 

"  '  We  must  try  to  turn  her  and  tack,'  said  the  Captain,  '  or  all  is 
over.  The  sea  may  sweep  the  deck  in  turning  and  wash  everything 
overboard  .  .  .  but  we  must  try.' 

"  This  was  a  moment  to  make  the  stoutest  heart  tremble.  He 
gave  the  word  and  we  tried  to  turn  outwardly,  but  in  vain.  This 
would  have  saved  us  room.  He  then  tried  the  other  way,  and  with 
God's  blessing  succeeded,  clearing  the  rocks  by  not  more  than  two 
ships'  length.  Just  as  we  did  so,  the  wind  most  providentially  veered 
two  points  in  our  favour,  and  we  were  able  to  beat  out  of  the  Bay. 

"  Had  not  the  Lord  thus  helped  us,  all  our  efforts  must  have  been 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  191 

in  vain.  Truly  His  mercy  is  unfailing.  '  Oh  that  men  would  praise 
the  Lord  for  His  goodness  and  for  His  wonderful  works  to  the  children 
of  men.'"  1 

Safe  for  the  present,  it  was  with  unspeakable  thankfulness 
they  saw  the  sun  rise  on  Monday  morning  and  the  storm 
gradually  pass  away. 

A  week  later  they  were  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  there 
also  came  in  for  rough  weather,  one  heavy  sea  carrying  away 
the  fore  skylight  and  seeming  almost  to  swamp  the  ship. 
Three  weeks  from  the  day  of  sailing,  however,  saw  them  in 
calmer  waters,  the  worst  of  their  dangers  past.  During 
all  that  time  it  had  been  cold  and  wet,  and  everything  on 
board  seemed  either  damp  or  soaking,  which  meant  constant 
discomfort. 

"  These  things  make  one  long  for  fine,  dry  weather/'  runs  the 
journal  for  October  5.  "  Most  of  my  belongings  are  damp,  the  floors 
are  wet,  and  all  our  boots  and  shoes  are  saturated  with  water.  The 
poor  steward's  cabin  is  soaking,  the  sea  having  poured  into  it,  and 
now  mine  is  the  only  one  that  has  not  been  flooded.  .  .  .  But  how 
thankful  I  ought  to  be  that  it  was  not  the  after  skylight  that  gave 

^  "  One  thing  was  a  great  trouble  to  me  that  night.  I  was  a  very 
young  believer,  and  had  not  sufficient  faith  in  God  to  see  Him  in  and  through 
the  use  of  means.  I  had  felt  it  a  duty  to  comply  with  the  earnest  wish  of 
my  beloved  and  honoured  mother,  and  for  her  sake  to  procure  a  swimming- 
belt.  But  in  my  own  soul  I  felt  as  if  I  could  not  simply  trust  in  God  while  I 
had  this  swimming-belt,  and  my  heart  had  no  rest  until  on  that  night,  after 
all  hope  of  being  saved  was  gone,  I  had  given  it  away.  Then  I  had  perfect 
peace,  and  strange  to  say  put  several  hght  things  together,  hkely  to  float 
at  the  time  we  struck,  without  any  thought  of  inconsistency  or  scruple. 

"  Ever  since,  I  have  seen  clearly  the  mistake  I  made  ;  a  mistake  that  is 
very  common  in  these  days,  when  erroneous  teaching  on  faith-healing  does 
much  harm,  misleading  some  as  to  the  purposes  of  God,  shaking  the  faith 
of  others  and  distressing  the  minds  of  many.  The  use  of  means  ought 
not  to  lessen  our  faith  in  God,  and  our  faith  in  God  ought  not  to  hinder  our 
using  whatever  means  He  has  given  us  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  own 
purposes. 

"  For  years  after  this  I  always  took  a  swimming-belt  with  me  and 
never  had  any  trouble  about  it  ;  for  after  the  storm  was  over,  the  question 
was  settled  for  me  through  the  prayerful  study  of  the  Scriptures.  God 
gave  me  then  to  see  my  mistake,  probably  to  deliver  me  from  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  on  similar  questions  now  so  constantly  raised.  When  in  medical 
or  surgical  charge  of  any  case,  I  have  never  thought  of  neglecting  to  ask 
God's  guidance  and  blessing  in  the  use  of  appropriate  means,  nor  yet  of 
omitting  to  give  thanks  for  answered  prayer  and  restored  health.  But 
to  me  it  would  appear  as  presumptuous  and  wrong  to  neglect  the  use  of 
those  measures  which  He  Himself  has  put  within  our  reach,  as  to  neglect  to 
take  daily  food,  and  suppose  that  life  and  health  might  be  maintained  by 
prayer  alone  "  (from  Mr.  Taylor's  Retrospect), 


192  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

way,  for  then  all  my  clothes^  books  and  papers  would  have  been 
deluged. 

"  And  they  had  no  means  of  drying  them." 

It  was  with  no  little  satisfaction,  therefore,  that  favourable 
winds  were  welcomed,  bearing  them  to  warmer  latitudes. 
But  the  earlier  stages  of  the  voyage  had  not  been  lost. 
Even  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  Hudson  Taylor  had  dis- 
covered that  there  was  one  more  earnest  Christian  on 
board,  the  Swedish  carpenter,  and  assured  of  his  help  had 
asked  the  Captain's  permission  to  commence  regular  services 
among  the  crew.  And  now  in  the  hot,  still  days  that  found 
them  becalmed  near  the  Equator  these  were  continued  with 
much  acceptance. 

Whole-heartedly  the  young  missionary  threw  himself 
into  this  work.  He  had  been  reading  the  life  of  Hewitson 
since  coming  on  board,  and  had  found  it  stimulating  both 
to  faith  and  zeal. 

"  How  he  seems  to  have  fed  on  the  Lamb,"  he  wrote,  "  and  to  have 
ministered  the  Spirit.  Oh  for  more  of  the  love  of  God,  that  out  of  a 
full  heart  I  might  proclaim  it  ! 

"  This  evening  [Sunday,  October  9]  we  had  a  good  attendance  at 
our  little  service.  .  .  .  We  began  with  a  hymn,  and  good  it  was  to 
hear  them  sing  !  Then  I  asked  the  Lord's  blessing  with  great  liberty, 
for  He  was  indeed  present.  After  a  short  address,  I  read  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Romans/  and  explained  the  way  of  salvation  by  faith, 
dwelling  on  the  love  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  the  value  of  a  soul, 
and  the  necessity  for  flying  at  once  for  mercy  to  '  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  Then  the  steward  prayed 
and  we  concluded  the  meeting. 

"  It  was  encouraging  afterwards  to  hear  that  some  of  the  men  had 
been  much  affected,  tears  chasing  down  the  weather-beaten  faces  of 
one  or  two.  May  God,  who  alone  giveth  the  increase,  bless  His  Word 
and  use  it  for  His  glory." 

Sixty  times  during  the  remainder  of  the  voyage  such 
meetings  were  held,  Hudson  Taylor  giving  unwearied  prayer 
and  preparation  to  this  ministry.  It  was  a  great  blessing 
to  him  personally  and  did  much  to  save  him  from  the 
spiritual  declension  that  so  often  accompanies  life  at  sea 
with  its  lack  of  helpful  influences.  To  him  the  journey 
was  a  time  of  marked  blessing,  his  only  sorrow  being  that 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  193 

so  little  permanent  change  was  found  in  the  lives  of  the  men. 
They  were  interested,  and  would  come  to  him  at  times  for 
private  talk  and  prayer.  But  though  some  were  very  near 
the  Kingdom,  none  of  them  came  out  fully  on  the  side  of 
Christ.  This  was  a  keen  disappointment  and  cast  him 
much  on  God.  No  doubt  in  some  ways  the  experience  was 
useful,  preparing  him  to  "  sow  beside  all  waters,"  even  when 
for  a  long  time  no  fruit  appeared. 

Much  more  might  be  said  about  that  five  months  at  sea, 
did  space  permit.^  The  journal  is  full  of  the  variety  and 
interest,  the  occasional  excitements  and  more  frequent 
monotony  of  twenty-three  consecutive  weeks  on  a  sailing 
ship  without  touching  land.  There  are  glimpses  of  moon- 
Ht  nights  in  the  tropics  ;  of  illuminating  seas  gemmed  with 
trails  of  light  from  innumerable  Acephalae  ;  of  exciting 
situations  over  the  capture  of  a  shark  or  albatross,  and 
perilous  ones  when  becalmed  in  southern  waters  they  were 
borne  by  unseen  currents  towards  sunken  reefs  or  more 
dangerous  cannibal  islands. 

Still  more  the  journal  is  taken  up  with  the  inner  Hfe  that 
meant  so  much  more  than  outward  surroundings.  Side  by 
side  with  his  prayers  and  efforts  for  the  good  of  the  crew 
went  deepened  longings  for  a  closer  walk  himself  with  God, 
and  entries  such  as  the  following  abound  : 

Oct.  30  :  Have  been  much  blessed  to-day.  The  Lord  is  indeed 
precious  to  me.    Oh  that  I  loved  Him  more  ! 

Nov.  I  :  Another  month  has  been  spent,  how  unprofitably ! 
How  little  to  the  honour  of  that  glorious  Being  in  whom  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being.  May  the  next  be  used  more  faithfully  in 
His  service  and  to  His  glory. 

Dec.  26  :  Enjoying  sweet  fellowship  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  great 
liberty  of  access  to  the  throne  of  grace. 

What  is  earth  with  all  its  treasures 

To  the  joy  our  Saviour  brings  ? 
Well  may  we  resign  its  pleasures. 

Satisfied  with  better  things. 
All  His  people 
Draw  from  Heaven's  eternal  springs. 

'  They  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  early  in  December,  and  soon 
after  Christmas  Day  "  began  to  make  northing,"  having  run  14,500  miles 
since  leaving  the  Mersey.     On  January  5  they  reached  the  nearest  point  to 

O 


194  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Oh  to  be  ever  seeking  "  the  things  that  are  above/'  as  risen  indeed 
with  Christ ;  ever  standing  on  the  watch-tower,  ready  to  welcome 
the  glad  word,  "  Behold  the  Bridegroom  cometh." 

Dec.  31  :  On  reviewing  the  mercies  of  the  year  and  the  goodness 
of  God  to  me  in  it,  I  am  lost  in  wonder,  love  and  praise.  .  .  .  Here 
then  I  raise  my  "  Eben-ezer  "  :  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped 
me  "... 

And  since  my  soul  hath  known  His  love, 

What  mercies  He  has  made  me  prove  ! 

Mercies  that  do  all  praise  excel  : 

My  Jesus  hath  done  all  things  well. 

Spent  the  last  moments  of  the  year  in  prayer  .  .  .  and  found 
the  Lord  present  and  very  precious. 

There  were  times  in  his  solitude  when  home  seemed  far 
away  and  the  longing  for  those  he  loved  became  intense. 

"  How  widely  we  are  separated,"  he  wrote,  "  who  last  year  were  so 
near.  .  .  .  Praised  be  God,  He  is  unchangeable ;  His  mercy  never 
fails.  .  .  . 

"  Found  in  a  book  lent  me  by  Captain  Morris,  The  Hebrew  Mother, 
and  was  much  affected  by  it.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  last  time  I 
heard  it.  Mother  was  present,  my  dearest — played  it,  and  when  we 
came  to  the  lines  : 

I  give  thee  to  thy  God, 
The  God  that  gave  thee — 

Mother  broke  down,  and  clasping  me  in  her  arms  wept  aloud  at  the 
thought  of  parting.  May  the  Lord  bless  her  and  comfort  her  heart 
day  by  day.  .  .  . 

"  Jesus  is  precious.  His  service  is  perfect  freedom.  His  yoke  is 
easy  and  His  burden  light.  Joy  and  peace  His  people  have  indeed. 
Absent  from  home,  friends,  and  country  even,  Jesus  is  with  me.  .  .  . 
He  is  all,  and  more  than  all.  Much  as  my  heart  yearns  to  see  them, 
the  love  of  Christ  is  stronger,  more  constraining." 

This  love  then  for  the  souls  of  men,  the  love  of  Christ 
in  him,  did  not  fail  under  the  test  of  pain  and  loss.  If  any- 
thing it  was  deepening,  face  to  face  with  facts  that  had  been 
only  hearsay  before.  The  lonely  inhabitants  of  many  an 
island,  for  example,  between  Java  and  the  Philippines 
drew  forth  his  compassion.     They  had  already  sighted  land 

Western  Australia,  only  120  miles  away,  and  thence  steered  a  periloas 
course  through  the  East  Indian  Islands  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  China 
Sea,  dropping  anchor  at  Woo-sung,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Shanghai  River 
on  March  i,  1854. 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  195 

some  weeks  before,  in  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
but  not  until  the  nearest  point  to  AustraHa  was  reached 
did  they  begin  to  enter  the  Archipelago  lying  between  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans.  This  proved  a  region  of  fascinat- 
ing interest,  though  not  without  its  special  dangers.  For 
almost  a  month  from  January  12,  when  they  first  hailed 
with  delight  the  green  hills  and  valleys  of  Sandal  Wood 
Isle,  until  they  looked  their  last  on  the  sandy  beach  of 
Angour  (Pelew  Group)  shining  in  the  sun,  they  were  hardly 
ever  out  of  sight  of  beautiful,  fertile,  populous  islands,  in 
which  no  witness  for  the  dying,  undying  love  of  Calvary 
was  found. 

"  Oh  what  work  for  the  missionary  !  "  wrote  Hudson  Taylor. 
"  Island  after  island,  many  almost  unknown,  some  densely  peopled, 
but  no  light,  no  Jesus,  no  hope  full  of  bliss  !  My  heart  yearns  over 
them.  Can  it  be  that  Christian  men  and  women  will  stay  comfortably 
at  home  and  leave  these  souls  to  perish  }  Can  it  be  that  faith  has  no 
longer  power  to  constrain  to  sacrifice  for  His  sake  who  gave  His  life 
for  the  world's  redemption  }  .  .  . 

Shall  we  whose  souls  are  lighted 

With  wisdom  from  on  high ; 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted 

The  lamp  of  Life  deny  ? 

"  Shall  we  think  ourselves  free  from  responsibility  to  obey  the 
plain  command,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature  '  ?  Is  that  word  of  our  Saviour  no  longer  true,  '  As 
My  Father  hath  sent  Me  .  .  .  even  so  send  I  you  '  "?  Oh  that  I  could 
get  to  them  !  Oh  that  I  had  a  thousand  tongues  to  proclaim  in  every 
land  the  riches  of  God's  grace  !  Lord,  raise  up  labourers,  and  thrust 
them  forth  into  Thy  harvest." 

A  little  later  no  small  stir  was  occasioned  when,  in  passing 
close  to  one  of  these  islands  at  night,  a  light  was  seen  ashore. 
More  than  sixteen  weeks  had  elapsed  since  the  beacons  of 
St.  George's  Channel  had  faded  from  sight,  and  in  all  that 
time  no  sign  had  been  seen  of  a  human  habitation.  But  that 
light,  that  little  moving  light  in  Dampier  Strait  told  of 
fellow-men  near  at  hand,  and  aroused  sensations  that  were 
indescribable. 

Becalmed   next   day   within   reach   of   Waygion,    they 


196  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

attracted  the  attention  of  a  few  poor  islanders  who  put  off 
in  their  canoes  to  make  trade  with  the  foreign  ship.  But 
the  fresh  cocoa-nuts,  shells,  parrots,  and  even  the  bird-of- 
paradise  they  offered  had  little  interest  for  the  missionary 
compared  with  the  sight  of  those  faces — gentle,  intelligent, 
appealing — and  the  sound  of  their  soft  speech  in  an  unknown 
tongue. 

"  The  men  seemed  very  poor,"  he  wrote,  "  and  those  in  the  last 
two  boats,  timid.  They  had  probably  been  taken  in  by  previous 
travellers.  They  were  a  little  lighter  in  colour  than  burnt  coffee-bean, 
and  but  for  a  narrow  cloth  around  their  loins  were  entirely  naked. 
Their  faces,  however,  were  intelligent  and  pleasing.  .  .  . 

"  What  would  I  not  have  given  to  be  able  to  tell  them  of  a  Saviour's 
love  !  I  longed  to  go  and  live  among  them,  poor  and  degraded  as 
they  are,  and  lead  them  to  that  blissful  home  where  sin  and  sorrow 
are  no  more.  .  .  .  Let  us  pray  the  Lord  to  send  them  missionaries 
who  shall  be  willing  to  sacrifice  earthly  comforts  that  they  may  win 
souls  to  Christ." 

But  with  all  its  interests  the  voyage  seemed  tedious 
toward  the  close,  especially  in  the  frequent  calms  of  this 
Eastern  Archipelago.  Only  for  a  single  day  during  that 
month  among  the  Islands  had  they  a  steady  wind,  and  more 
than  once  their  log  did  not  exceed  seven  miles  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours.  Such  experiences  were  more  than  trying,  they 
were  accompanied  with  serious  danger. 

"  Never,"  as  Hudson  Taylor  put  it,  "  is  one  more  helpless  than  in 
a  sailing  ship  with  a  total  absence  of  wind  and  the  presence  of  a  strong 
current  setting  toward  a  dangerous  coast.  In  a  storm  the  ship  is  to 
some  extent  manageable,  but  becalmed  one  can  do  nothing  ;  the  Lord 
must  do  all." 

One  definite  answer  to  prayer  under  such  circumstances 
was  a  great  encouragement  to  his  faith.  They  had  just  come 
through  the  Dampier  Strait  but  were  not  yet  out  of  sight 
of  the  islands.  Usually  a  breeze  would  spring  up  after 
sunset  and  last  until  about  dawn.  The  utmost  use  was 
made  of  it,  but  during  the  day  they  lay  still  with  flapping 
sails,  often  drifting  back  and  losing  a  good  deal  of  the 
advantage  gained  at  night. 

This  happened  notably  on  one  occasion  when  we  were  in  dangerous 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  197 

proximity  to  the  north  of  New  Guinea.  Saturday  night  had  brought 
us  to  a  point  some  thirty  miles  off  the  land,  and  during  the  Sunday 
morning  service  which  was  held  on  deck  I  could  not  fail  to  see  that 
the  Captain  looked  troubled  and  frequently  went  over  to  the  side  of 
the  ship.  When  the  service  was  ended  I  learnt  from  him  the  cause  : 
a  four-knot  current  was  carrying  us  toward  some  sunken  reefs,  and  we 
were  already  so  near  that  it  seemed  improbable  that  we  should  get 
through  the  afternoon  in  safety.  After  dinner  the  long-boat  was  put 
out  and  all  hands  endeavoured,  without  success,  to  turn  the  ship's 
head  from  the  shore. 

After  standing  together  on  the  deck  for  some  time  in  silence,  the 
Captain  said  to  me  : 

"  Well,  we  have  done  everything  that  can  be  done.  We  can  only 
await  the  result." 

A  thought  occurred  to  me,  and  I  replied  : 

"  No,  there  is  one  thing  we  have  not  done  yet." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  he  queried. 

"  Four  of  us  on  board  are  Christians.  Let  us  each  retire  to  his  own 
cabin,  and  in  agreed  prayer  ask  the  Lord  to  give  us  immediately  a 
breeze.     He  can  as  easily  send  it  now  as  at  sunset." 

The  Captain  complied  with  this  proposal.  I  went  and  spoke  to  the 
other  two  men,  and  after  prayer  with  the  carpenter  we  all  four  retired 
to  wait  upon  God.  I  had  a  good  but  very  brief  season  in  prayer,  and 
then  felt  so  satisfied  that  our  request  was  granted  that  I  could  not 
continue  asking,  and  very  soon  went  up  again  on  deck.  The  first 
officer,  a  godless  man,  was  in  charge.  I  went  over  and  asked  him  to 
let  down  the  clews  or  corners  of  the  mainsail,  which  had  been  drawn 
up  in  order  to  lessen  the  useless  flapping  of  the  sail  against  the  rigging. 

"  What  would  be  the  good  of  that  ?  "  he  answered  roughly. 

I  told  him  we  had  been  asking  a  wind  from  God  ;  that  it  was  coming 
immediately  ;  and  we  were  so  near  the  reef  by  this  time  that  there  was 
not  a  minute  to  lose. 

With  an  oath  and  a  look  of  contempt,  he  said  he  would  rather  see  a 
wind  than  hear  of  it. 

But  while  he  was  speaking  I  watched  his  eye,  following  it  up  to  the 
royal,  and  there  sure  enough  the  corner  of  the  topmost  sail  was  begin- 
ning to  tremble  in  the  breeze. 

"  Don't  you  see  the  wind  is  coming  ?  Look  at  the  royal !  "  I 
exclaimed. 

"  No,  it  is  only  a  cat's  paw/'  he  rejoined  (a  mere  puff  of  wind). 

"  Cat's  paw  or  not,"  I  cried,  "  pray  let  down  the  mainsail  and  give 
us  the  benefit." 

This  he  was  not  slow  to  do.  In  another  minute  the  heavy  tread  of 
the  men  on  deck  brought  up  the  Captain  from  his  cabin  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.    The  breeze  had  indeed  come  !     In  a  few  minutes  we  were 


igS  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

ploughing  our  way  at  six  or  seven  knots  an  hour  through  the  water  .  .  . 
and  though  the  wind  was  sometimes  unsteady  we  did  not  altogether 
lose  it  until  after  passing  the  Pelew  Islands. 

Thus  God  encouraged  me  ere  landing  on  China's  shores  to  bring 
every  variety  of  need  to  Him  in  prayer,  and  to  expect  that  He  would 
honour  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  give  the  help  each  emergency 
required. 


PART    IV 

SHANGHAI   AND   EARLY   ITINERATIONS 


1854-1855.     Aet.  22-23. 

Chap.  16. — Arrival  and  First  Experiences. 
17. — Make  it  a  Place  of  Springs. 
18. — Building  in  Troublous  Times. 
19. — A  Way  of  Escape. 
20. — The  First  Evangelistic  Journey. 
21.— Our  Plans  of  Usefulness. 
22. — Not  Where  Christ  was  Named. 
23. — A  Vision  of  His  Life-work. 
24. — Emptied  from  Vessel  to  Vessel. 
25. — Some  Better  Thing. 


0  Thou,  by  long  experience  tried, 
Near  whom  no  grief  can  long  abide  ; 
My  Lord,  how  full  of  sweet  content, 

1  pass  my  years  of  banishment. 

All  scenes  alike  engaging  prove 
To  souls  impress'd  with  sacred  love  ! 
Where'er  they  dwell,  they  dwell  in  Thee  ; 
In  heaven,  on  earth,  or  on  the  sea. 

To  me  remains  nor  place  nor  time, 
My  country  is  in  every  clime  ; 
I  can  be  calm  and  free  from  care 
On  any  shore,  since  God  is  there. 

While  place  we  seek  or  place  we  shun. 
The  soul  finds  happiness  in  none  ; 
But  with  my  God  to  guide  my  way 
'Tis  equal  joy  to  go  or  stay. 

Could  I  be  cast  where  Thou  art  not. 
That  were,  indeed,  a  dreadful  thought  ; 
But  regions  none  remote  I  call. 
Secure  of  finding  God  in  all. 

Madame  Guyon. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ARRIVAL   AND   FIRST   EXPERIENCES 

March  1854.    Aet.  21. 

It  was  a  foggy  Sunday  off  Gutzlaff  Island,  cold  with 
occasional  rain,  as  might  be  expected  at  the  end  of  February, 
and  the  Dumfries  lay  at  anchor  waiting  for  a  pilot  to  take 
her  up  to  Shanghai.  Through  stormy  weather  she  had 
held  her  way  up  the  China  Sea,  driven  out  of  her  course  by 
westerly  gales,  caught  in  a  cyclone  and  blinding  snow- 
storms, but  now  the  last  stage  of  her  long  journey  was 
reached,  and  the  yellow,  turbid  water  surging  around 
her  told  that  they  were  already  in  the  estuary  of  a  great 
river. 

Muffled  in  his  heaviest  wraps  Hudson  Taylor  paced  the 
deck,  doing  his  best  to  keep  warm  and  be  patient.  It  was 
a  strange  Sunday,  this  last  at  sea.  For  days  he  had  been 
packed  and  ready  to  leave  the  ship,  and  hindered  by  storm 
and  cold  from  other  occupations  had  given  the  more  time 
to  thought  and  prayer. 

"  What  peculiar  feelings/'  he  wrote,  "  arise  at  the  prospect  of  soon 
landing  in  an  unknown  country,  in  the  midst  of  strangers — a  country 
now  to  be  my  home  and  sphere  of  labour.  '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway.' 
'  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee.'  Sweet  promises  !  I  have 
nothing  to  fear,  with  Jesus  on  my  side. 

"  Great  changes  probably  have  taken  place  since  last  we  heard  from 
China.  And  what  news  shall  I  receive  from  England  ?  Where  shall 
I  go,  and  how  shall  I  live  at  first  ?  These  and  a  thousand  other 
questions  engage  the  mind.  .  .  .  But  the  most  important  question 
of  all  is, '  Am  I  now  living  as  near  to  God  as  possible  ?  '  Alas  !  I  am 
not.     My  wayward  heart,  so  easily  occupied  with  the  things  of  time 


202  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  sense,  needs  continually  leading  back  to  the  fold  from  whence  it 
strays.  Oh  !  that  my  '  rejoicing  '  may  be  '  more  abundant  in  Christ 
Jesus/  and  my  '  conversation  '  ever  '  as  becometh  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.'  " 

As  afternoon  wore  on,  what  were  those  boats  in  the 
distance — looming  toward  them  through  the  mist  ?  One 
beat  its  way  up  before  long,  eagerly  watched  from  the 
Dumfries.  Yes,  there  was  no  mistaking  that  picturesque 
sail  and  curiously  painted  hull,  nor  the  faces  of  the  men 
as  they  came  into  sight.  There  they  were,  twelve  or  fourteen 
of  them,  blue-garbed,  dark-eyed,  vociferating  in  an  unknown 
tongue — the  first  Chinese  Hudson  Taylor  had  ever  seen. 
And  how  his  heart  went  out  to  them  !  Behind  the  strange, 
uncouth  exterior  he  saw  the  treasure  he  had  come  so  far 
to  seek— the  souls  for  which  Christ  died. 

"  I  did  long,"  he  wrote,  "  to  be  able  to  tell  them  the  Glad  Tidings." 

A  little  later  the  English  pilot  came  on  board  and  received 
a  hearty  welcome.  There  was  no  hope  of  reaching  Woo- 
sung  that  day,  still  less  Shanghai,  fifteen  miles  farther  up 
the  tidal  river  ;  but  there  was  much  he  could  tell  them, 
while  waiting  for  the  fog  to  clear,  of  the  long  winter's  doings 
since  they  had  left  England. 

From  him  they  learned,  for  example,  of  the  troubles 
between  Russia  and  Turkey  that  within  a  few  weeks  were 
to  lead  to  the  Crimean  War.^  The  allied  fleets  of  England 
and  France  had  already  reached  the  scene  of  conflict,  and 
nothing  it  was  feared  could  avert  the  serious  issue.  But 
startling  though  it  was  to  hear  of  war-clouds  hanging  over 
Europe,  it  was  scarcely  as  great  a  shock  as  the  news  from 
China  itself,  and  especially  from  the  port  at  which  they 
were  about  to  land.  Not  only  was  the  Tai-ping  Rebellion 
still  devastating  province  after  province  in  its  progress 
toward  Peking  ;  Shanghai  close  at  hand,  both  the  native 
city  and  the  foreign  Settlement,  was  plunged  in  all  the 
horrors  of  war.  A  local  band  of  rebels  known  as  the  "  Red 
Turbans "   had   obtained   possession   of   the   city,    around 

1  This  war,  which  was  to  cost  England  twenty-four  thousand  men,  and 
to  add  forty-one  milUons  sterling  to  the  national  debt,  commenced  on 
March  27,  1854,  and  was  not  concluded  until  two  years  later. 


ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST  EXPERIENCES       203 

which  was  now  encamped  an  Imperial  army  of  forty  to 
fifty  thousand  men,  the  latter  proving  a  more  serious  menace 
to  the  European  community  than  even  the  rebels  themselves. 

For  the  rest,  bad  as  their  passage  had  been  they  had 
arrived  ahead  of  vessels  that  set  out  before  them,  but  just 
too  late  for  the  February  mail.  They  must  be  prepared, 
moreover,  to  find  everything  at  famine  prices,  for  the 
dollar  had  risen  from  four  shillings,  its  ordinary  value,  to 
six  or  seven,  and  would  soon  be  higher  :  a  discouraging 
outlook  for  one  with  a  small  income  in  English  money  ! 

All  this  and  more  the  pilot  told  them,  and  they  had  time 
to  think  over  his  communications.  Monday  was  still  so 
foggy  that  they  could  not  proceed,  and  though  they  weighed 
anchor  on  Tuesday  morning  it  was  only  to  beat  up  against 
the  wind  a  few  miles  nearer  to  Woo-sung.  But  that  night 
the  fog  lifted,  and  the  young  missionary  pacing  the  deck 
caught  sight  of  a  low-lying  shore,  running  far  to  north  and 
south,  that  was  no  island.  How  it  arrested  him  !  His 
prayers  were  answered  ;  the  dream  of  years  come  true. 
He  was  looking  on  China  at  last,  under  the  evening  sky. 

Not  until  5  P.M.  next  day,  however  (Wednesday,  March  i), 
was  he  able  to  land  in  Shanghai ;  and  then  it  was  quite 
alone,  the  Dumfries  being  still  detained  by  adverse  winds. 

"  My  feelings  on  stepping  ashore/'  he  wrote,  "  I  cannot  attempt 
to  describe.  My  heart  felt  as  though  it  had  not  room  and  must  burst 
its  bonds,  while  tears  of  gratitude  and  thankfulness  fell  from  my 
eyes." 

Then  a  deep  sense  of  the  loneliness  of  his  position  began 
to  come  over  him  ;  not  a  friend  or  acquaintance  anywhere  ; 
not  a  single  hand  held  out  to  welcome  him,  or  any  one  who 
even  knew  his  name. 

Mingled  with  thankfulness  for  deliverance  from  many  dangers  and 
joy  at  finding  myself  at  last  on  Chinese  soil  came  a  vivid  realisation 
of  the  great  distance  between  me  and  those  I  loved,  and  that  I  was  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

I  had  three  letters  of  introduction,  however,  and  counted  on  advice 
and  help  from  one  especially,  to  whom  I  had  been  commended  by 
mutual  friends,  whom  I  knew  well  and  highly  valued.    Of  course  I 


204  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

inquired  for  him  at  once,  only  to  learn  that  he  had  been  buried  a 
month  or  two  previously,  having  died  of  fever  while  we  were  at  sea. 

Saddened  by  these  tidings  I  asked  the  whereabouts  of  a  missionary 
to  whom  another  of  my  introductions  was  addressed,  but  only  to  meet 
with  further  disappointment.  He  had  recently  left  for  America. 
The  third  letter  remained  ;  but  it  had  been  given  me  by  a  comparative 
stranger,  and  I  expected  less  from  it  than  from  the  others.  It  proved, 
however,  to  be  God's  channel  of  help. 

This  letter  then  in  hand,  he  left  the  British  Consulate 
near  the  river  to  find  the  London  Mission  compound  at 
some  distance  across  the  Settlement.  On  every  side  strange 
sights,  sounds  and  smells  now  greeted  him,  especially  when 
the  European  houses  gave  place  to  Chinese  shops  and 
dwellings.  Here  nothing  but  Chinese  was  to  be  heard,  and 
few  if  any  but  Chinese  were  to  be  seen.  The  streets  grew 
narrower  and  more  crowded,  and  overhanging  balconies 
above  rows  of  swinging  signboards  almost  hid  the  sky. 
How  he  found  his  way  for  a  mile  or  more  does  not  appear  ; 
but  at  length  a  mission-chapel  came  in  sight,  and  with  an 
upward  look  for  guidance  Hudson  Taylor  turned  in  at  the 
ever-open  gateway  of  Ma-ka-k'iien} 

Several  buildings  stood  before  him,  including  a  hospital 
and  dwelling-houses,  at  the  first  of  which  he  enquired  for 
Dr.  Medhurst  to  whom  his  letter  was  addressed.  Sensitive 
and  reserved  by  nature,  it  was  no  small  ordeal  to  Hudson 
Taylor  to  have  to  introduce  himself  to  so  important  a 
person,  the  pioneer  as  well  as  founder  (with  Dr.  Lockhart) 
of  Protestant  missionary  effort  in  this  part  of  China,  and 
it  was  almost  with  rehef  he  heard  that  Dr.  Medhurst  was 
no  longer  living  on  the  compound.  He  too,  it  seemed,  had 
gone  away  ! 

More  than  this  Hudson  Taylor  was  unable  to  make  out, 
as  the  Chinese  servants  could  not  speak  Enghsh,  nor  could 
he  understand  a  word  of  their  dialect.  It  was  a  perplexing 
situation  until  a  European  came  in  sight,  to  whom  the  new 
arrival  quickly  made  himself  known.  To  his  rehef  he 
found  he  was  talking  with  Mr.  Edkins,  one  of  the  junior 

1  The  name  of  the  London  Mission  Compound  on  Shantung  Road, 
familiar  and  beloved.  The  three  characters  mean,  "  iledhurst  Family 
Enclosure." 


\ 


ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST  EXPERIENCES        205 

missionaries,  who  welcomed  him  kindly  and  explained 
that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Medhurst  had  moved  to  the  British 
Consulate,  as  the  premises  they  had  occupied  were  within 
sight  and  sound  of  constant  fighting  at  the  North  Gate  of 
the  city.  Dr.  Lockhart,  however,  remained  ;  and  while  he 
went  to  find  him,  Mr.  Edkins  invited  the  stranger  into  one 
of  the  Mission-houses. 

It  was  quite  an  event  in  those  days  for  an  Englishman 
and  especially  a  missionary  to  appear  in  Shanghai  un- 
announced. Most  people  came  by  the  regular  mail-steamers 
once  a  month,  whose  arrival  caused  general  excitement. 
None  was  expected  then,  and  even  the  Dumfries  was  not 
yet  in  port ;  so  that  when  another  of  the  L.M.S.  people 
came  in,  during  Mr.  Edkin's  absence,  Hudson  Taylor  had 
to  explain  all  over  again  who  and  what  he  was.  But 
Alexander  Wylie  soon  set  the  shy  lad  at  ease,  and  enter- 
tained him  until  Mr.  Edkins  returned  with  Dr.  Lockhart. 

It  did  not  take  long  for  these  new  friends  to  understand 
the  situation,  and  then  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
receive  the  young  missionary  into  one  of  their  own  houses. 
They  could  not  leave  him  without  a  home,  and  the  Settle- 
ment was  so  crowded  that  lodgings  were  not  to  be  had  at 
any  price.  Dr.  Lockhart,  happily,  had  a  room  at  his  disposal. 
He  was  Hving  alone,  Mrs.  Lockhart  having  been  obliged  to 
return  to  England,  and  with  genuine  kindness  welcomed 
Hudson  Taylor  as  his  guest,  permitting  him  to  pay  a  moderate 
sum  to  cover  board-expenses. 

This  arrangement  made,  Mr.  Edkins  took  him  to  see  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Muirhead,  who  completed  the  L.M.S.  staff  in 
Shanghai,  and  introduced  him  also  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burdon 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  who  had  rented  an 
unoccupied  house  (belonging  possibly  to  Dr.  Medhurst)  on 
the  same  compound.  The  Burdons  invited  him  to  dinner 
that  evening.  They  were  young  and  newly  married,  hav- 
ing only  been  a  year  or  two  in  China,  and  from  the  first 
were  drawn  to  Hudson  Taylor  in  a  sympathy  he  warmly 
reciprocated. 

"  The  fireside  looked  so  homelike,  their  company  was  so  pleasant 
and  all  the  news  they  had  to  tell/'  he  wrote,  "  so  full  of  interest  that 


206  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

it  was  most  refreshing.  After  prayer  at  ten  o'clock  I  returned  to 
Dr.  Lockhart's,  who  kindly  gave  me  a  room  and  made  me  quite  at 
home  to  enjoy  once  more  a  bed  on  shore."  ^ 

Here  then  was  an  answer  to  many  prayers,  the  solution 
of  many  ponderings.  For  the  moment  he  was  provided  for 
under  favourable  circumstances,  and  though  he  could  not 
long  trespass  upon  the  doctor's  hospitality,  it  would  afford 

^  It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  interest  to  think  of  Hudson  Taylor  on 
his  arrival  as  welcomed  by  this  group  of  distinguished  missionaries. 
"  There  were  giants  ...  in  those  days,"  and  certainly  the  L.M.S.  had 
their  share  !  Among  the  honoured  names  on  the  long  roll  of  its  mission- 
aries few  take  a  higher  place  than  Medhurst,  Lockhart,  Wyhe,  Muirhead, 
Edkins,  and  Griffith  John  who  joined  them  a  few  months  later. 

"  Most  of  the  large  cities  in  Kiang-su  and  North  Cheh-kiang  first  heard 
the  Word  of  Life  from  this  band  of  devoted  young  men  .  .  .  who  in  the 
years  before  i860  were  associated  with  the  pioneer  evangehst  to  central 
China,  Dr.  Medhurst"  {A  Century  of  Missions  in  China,  p.  7). 

Of  Dr.  Lockhart  it  need  only  be  said  that  he  was  the  first  medical- 
missionary  from  England  to  China.  He  landed  in  Canton  four  years  after 
Dr.  Peter  Parker  from  America,  and  accompanied  Dr.  Medhurst  when,  in 
1843,  he  commenced  missionary  operations  in  central  China. 

At  the  time  of  Hudson  Taylor's  arrival,  Dr.  Medhurst  and  Dr.  Lockhart 
had  already  been  eleven  years  in  Shanghai.  Both  were  in  middle  Ufe, 
Dr.  Medhurst  being  fifty-eight  and  Dr.  Lockhart  forty-three  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Wylie  was  a  man  of  thirty-nine,  and  a  widower.  Messrs.  Edkins  and 
Muirhead  were  thirty-one  and  thirty-two  respectively,  and  had  been  in 
Shanghai  already  six  and  seven  years  :  the  important  centre  in  which 
they  were  still  to  be  fellow-labourers  after  more  than  half  a  century  had 
gone  by. 

The  literary  as  well  as  evangelistic  labours  of  these  men  were  most 
remarkable.  Dr.  Medhurst  was  proficient  in  eight  or  ten  languages,  and 
pubhshed  fifty-nine  works  in  Chinese,  six  in  Malay,  and  twenty-seven  in 
English.  Dr.  Lockhart  wrote  and  translated  valuable  books  on  medicine 
and  medical-missions.  Alexander  Wylie  "  acquired  French,  Russian, 
German,  and  the  Manchu  and  Mongol  languages  while  in  charge  of  the 
L.M.S.  Press  in  Shanghai,  and  pubhshed  numerous  works  of  great  value 
both  in  Enghsh  and  Chinese."  The  venerable  and  beloved  Dr.  Muirhead, 
during  his  fifty-three  years  of  incessant  evangelistic  and  pastoral  labours, 
"  translated  the  first  considerable  work  on  Geography  ever  pubhshed  in 
Chinese  .  .  .  and  was  the  author  also  of  many  theological  works,  and  a 
member  of  the  Bible  Revision  Committee."  W^hile  the  well-known  Dr. 
Edkins,  who  survived  them  all,  with  "  an  extraordinary  gift  for  languages 
and  a  profound  knowledge  of  Chinese,"  was  one  of  the  leading  sinologues 
of  his  day. 

The  Rev.  J.  S.  Burdon  also  continued  for  nearly  half  a  century  in 
missionary  labours  in  China.  He  was  the  first  representative  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  to  commence  work  in  Peking,  which  became  his  head- 
quarters for  eleven  years.  "  He  translated  the  Prayer  Book  and  a  Bible 
History,  and  pubhshed  several  lesser  works,  besides  aiding  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures."  In  1873  he  was  consecrated  third  Bishop  of 
Victoria,  Hong-kong,  which  responsible  office  he  held  for  more  than 
twenty  years. 

A  remarkable  group  of  men,  reinforced  by  a  remarkable  addition  in 
the  coming  among  them  of  Hudson  Taylor. 


By  a  Chinese. 
Photograph 

PAGODA    IN    THE    IMMEDIATE    NEIGHBOURHOOD    OF    SHANGHAI. 

T'l  face  page  -207. 


ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST  EXPERIENCES         207 

him  at  any  rate  a  little  while  in  which  to  look  about  and 
make  permanent  arrangements.  With  good  courage,  there- 
fore, he  arose  next  morning  to  see  what  could  be  done. 
The  Dumfries  would  be  coming  in  and  he  must  have  his 
luggage  brought  ashore,  then  procure  necessary  books  and 
a  teacher  to  commence  as  soon  as  possible  the  study  of  the 
language.     It  was  his  first  whole  day  in  China. 

"  My  pleasure  on  awakening,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  "  and  hearing 
the  cheerful  song  of  birds  may  be  better  imagined  than  described. 
The  green  com  waving  in  the  fields,  budding  plants  in  the  garden,  and 
sweetly  perfumed  blossoms  on  some  of  the  trees  were  indeed  delightful 
after  so  long  at  sea." 

Breakfast  over  he  went  to  the  Consulate,  and  though 
disappointed  to  find  only  one  letter  (on  which  he  had  to 
pay  no  less  than  two  shillings  postage)  it  was  a  letter  from 
home,  containing  enclosures  from  both  mother  and  sisters. 

"  Never  did  I  pay  two  shillings  more  willingly  in  my  life,"  he 
assured  them,  "  than  for  that  letter." 

Soon  the  Dumfries  was  reported,  and  with  a  Chinese 
helper  he  managed  to  get  his  things  brought  up  to  Dr. 
Lockhart's.  It  was  a  peculiar  sensation  to  be  marching 
at  the  head  of  a  procession  of  coohes  through  the  crowded 
streets,  all  his  belongings  swinging  from  bamboo  poles  across 
their  shoulders,  while  at  every  step  they  sang  or  shouted 
"  Ou-ah  Ou-ay  "  in  varying  tones,  some  a  third  above  the 
rest.  They  were  not  really  in  pain  or  distress,  although  it 
sounded  like  it ;  and  by  the  time  some  of  the  copper  cash 
he  had  received  in  exchange  for  a  Mexican  dollar  had  been 
distributed  amongst  them,  he  had  had  his  first  lesson  in 
business  dealings  with  the  Chinese. 

Then  came  the  daily  service  in  the  hospital,  conducted 
on  this  occasion  by  Dr.  Medhurst,  and  Hudson  Taylor 
listened  for  the  first  time  to  Gospel  preaching  in  the  tongue 
with  which  he  was  to  become  so  familiar.  In  conversation 
afterwards.  Dr.  Medhurst  advised  him  to  commence  his 
studies  with  the  Mandarin  dialect,  the  most  widely  spoken 
in  China,  and  undertook  to  procure  a  teacher.     Evening 


2o8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

brought  the  weekly  prayer-meeting,  when  Hudson  Taylor 
was  introduced  to  others  of  the  missionary  community,  thus 
ending  with  united  waiting  upon  God  a  day  full  of  interest 
and  encouragement. 

But  before  the  week  closed  he  began  to  see  another  side 
of  Shanghai  life.  The  journal  tells  of  guns  firing  all  night, 
and  the  city  wall  not  half  a  mile  away  covered  with  sentry 
lights  ;  of  sharp  fighting  seen  from  his  windows,  in  which 
men  were  killed  and  wounded  under  his  very  eyes  ;  of  a 
patient  search  for  rooms  in  the  Chinese  part  of  the  Settle- 
ment, only  emphasising  the  fact  that  there  were  none  to  be 
had  ;  of  his  first  contact  with  heathenism  ;  and  of  scenes 
of  suffering  in  the  native  city  which  made  an  indelible  im- 
pression of  horror  upon  his  mind. 

Of  some  of  these  experiences  he  wrote  to  his  sister  ten 
days  after  his  arrival : 

On  Saturday  [March  4]  I  took  a  walk  through  the  Market,  and  such 
a  muddy,  dirty  place  as  Shanghai  I  never  did  see  !  The  ground  is  all 
mud  ;  dry  in  dry  weather,  but  one  hour's  rain  makes  it  like  walking 
through  a  clay-field.  It  scarcely  is  walking — but  wading  !  I  found 
that  there  was  no  probability  of  getting  a  house  or  even  apartments, 
and  felt  cast  down  in  spirit. 

The  following  day,  Sunday,  I  attended  two  services  at  the  L.M.S., 
and  in  the  afternoon  went  into  the  city  with  Mr.  Wylie.  You  have 
never  seen  a  city  in  a  state  of  siege,  or  been  at  the  seat  of  war.  God 
grant  you  never  may  !  We  walked  some  distance  round  the  wall, 
and  sad  it  was  to  see  the  wreck  of  rows  upon  rows  of  houses  near  the 
city.  Burnt  down,  blown  down,  battered  to  pieces — in  all  stages  of 
ruin  they  were  !  And  the  misery  of  those  who  once  inhabited  them, 
and  now  at  this  inclement  season  are  driven  from  house,  home  and 
everything,  is  terrible  to  think  of. 

At  length  we  came  upon  a  ladder  let  down  from  the  wall,  by  which 
provisions  were  being  conveyed  into  the  city.  We  entered  also  .  .  . 
and  had  a  little  conversation  with  the  soldiers  on  guard  who  offered 
us  no  opposition.  For  a  long  time  we  wandered  through  the  city, 
Mr.  Wylie  talking  with  people  here  and  there,  and  giving  them  tracts. 
We  went  into  some  of  the  temples  and  had  conversation  with  the 
priests,  who  also  received  tracts  from  us.  Everywhere  we  seemed 
welcome.  .  .  . 

As  we  passed  the  West  Gate,  we  saw  that  the  mud  with  which  it 
had  been  blocked  was  cleared  away.  Hundreds  of  the  Rebel  soldiery 
were  assembled  there,  and  we  met  many  more  going  in  that  direction. 


ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST  EXPERIENCES        209 

They  were  about  to  make  a  sally  upon  the  Imperialists,  who  would 
not  be  expecting  it  from  that  quarter. 

We  then  proceeded  to  the  L.M.S.  Chapel,  and  found  it  crammed 
with  people.  Dr.  Medhurst  was  preaching,  after  which  six  bags  of 
rice  were  distributed  among  the  poor  creatures,  many  of  whom  must 
perish  but  for  this  assistance,  rendered  daily,  as  they  can  do  nothing 
now  to  earn  a  living.  Some  of  the  windows  smashed  in  the  Chapel, 
and  the  lamps  broken  by  passing  bullets  tell  of  the  deadly  work  that 
is  going  on.  .  .  . 

By  the  time  we  came  to  the  North  Gate  they  were  fighting  fiercely 
outside  the  city.  One  man  was  brought  in  dead,  another  shot  through 
the  chest,  and  a  third  whose  arm  I  examined  seemed  in  dreadful 
agony.  A  ball  had  gone  clean  through  the  arm,  breaking  the  bone 
in  passing.  We  could  do  nothing  for  him  unless  he  would  come  to 
the  hospital ;  for,  as  Dr.  Lockhart  said,  who  came  up  just  at  the 
moment,  they  would  only  pull  our  dressings  off. 

A  little  farther  on  we  met  some  men  bringing  in  a  small  cannon 
they  had  captured,  and  following  them  were  others  dragging  along 
by  their  tails  (queues)  five  wretched  prisoners.  The  poor  fellows 
cried  piteously  to  us  to  save  them,  as  they  were  hurried  by,  but,  alas,  we 
could  do  nothing  !  They  would  probably  be  at  once  decapitated.  It 
makes  one's  blood  run  cold  to  think  of  such  a  thing. 

Dr.  Medhurst,  who  left  the  city  first,  waited  a  little  while  for  us  to 
overtake  him,  and  as  we  did  not  come,  went  on  alone.  Shortly  after, 
a  cannon-ball  struck  two  men  on  the  very  spot  where  he  had  been 
standing,  and  wounded  them  so  seriously  that  I  fear  one  if  not  both 
will  die.  When  we  reached  home  we  found  they  had  been  brought 
to  the  hospital,  and  traces  of  blood  seen  on  the  way  were  thus  explained. 
It  makes  one  sad  indeed  to  be  surrounded  by  so  much  misery  ;  to  see 
poor  creatures  so  suffering  and  distressed,  and  not  be  able  to  relieve 
them  or  tell  them  of  Jesus  and  His  love.  I  can  only  pray  for  them. 
But  is  not  He  all-mighty  ?  He  is.  Thank  God  we  know  He  is  ! 
Let  us  then  pray  earnestly  that  He  may  help  them. 

All  this  was  intensely  painful  to  a  sensitive  nature,  and 
Hudson  Taylor  doubtless  felt  it  the  more  that  it  was  so 
unexpected.  Trial  and  hardship  he  had  looked  for,  of  the 
kind  usually  associated  with  a  missionary's  lot,  but  every- 
thing was  turning  out  differently  from  his  anticipations. 
External  hardships  there  were  none,  save  the  cold  from 
which  he  suffered  greatly  ;  but  distress  of  mind  and  heart 
seemed  daily  to  increase.  He  could  hardly  look  out  of  his 
window,  much  less  take  exercise  in  any  direction,  without 
witnessing  misery  such  as  he  had  never  dreamed  of  before. 

p 


210  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

The  tortures  inflicted  by  the  soldiery  of  both  armies  upon 
unhappy  prisoners  from  whom  they  hoped  to  extort  money, 
and  the  ravages  perpetrated  as  they  pillaged  the  country 
for  supplies,  harrowed  him  unspeakably.  And  over  all 
hung  the  dark  pall  of  heathenism,  weighing  with  a  heavy 
oppression  upon  his  spirit.  Many  of  the  temples  were 
destroyed  in  whole  or  part  and  the  idols  damaged,  but  still 
the  people  worshipped  them,  crying  and  praying  for  help 
that  never  came.  The  gods,  it  was  evident,  were  unable  to 
save.  They  could  not  even  protect  themselves  in  these 
times  of  danger.  But  in  their  extremity,  rich  and  poor, 
high  and  low,  turned  to  them  still,  for  they  had  nothing  else. 
Seeing  which,  it  can  be  easily  imagined  how  Hudson 
Taylor  longed  to  tell  them  of  One  mighty  to  save.  But  not 
a  sentence  could  he  put  together  so  as  to  be  understood. 
This  enforced  silence  was  a  keen  distress,  for  he  was 
accustomed  to  speaking  freely  of  the  things  of  God.  Ever 
since  his  conversion  five  years  previously  he  had  given 
himself  as  fully  as  possible  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 
And  now  for  the  first  time  his  lips  were  sealed,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  he  never  would  be  able  in  that  appalling  tongue  to  tell 
out  all  that  was  in  his  heart.  This  again  could  not  but 
react  on  his  own  spiritual  life.  The  channels  of  outflow 
to  others  were  sealed,  and  it  was  a  little  while  before  he 
realised  that  they  must  be  kept  all  the  more  clear  and  open 
toward  God.  His  eagerness  to  get  hold  of  the  language 
made  him  devote  every  moment  to  study,  even  to  the  neglect 
of  prayer  and  daily  feeding  upon  the  Scriptures.  Of  course 
the  great  enemy  took  advantage  of  all  this,  as  may  be  seen 
from  early  letters  to  his  parents  in  which  he  unburdened 
his  heart  : 

"  My  position  is  a  very  difficult  one/'  he  wrote  soon  after  his 
arrival.  "  Dr.  Lockhart  has  taken  me  to  reside  with  him  for  the 
present,  as  houses  are  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money.  .  .  .  No  one 
can  live  in  the  city,  for  they  are  fighting  almost  continuously.  I  see 
the  walls  from  my  window  .  .  .  and  the  firing  is  visible  at  night. 
They  are  fighting  now,  while  I  write,  and  the  house  shakes  with  the 
report  of  cannon. 

"  It  is  so  cold  that  I  can  hardly  think  or  hold  the  pen.  .  .  ,  You 


I 


ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST  EXPERIENCES        211 

will  see  from  my  letter  to  Mr.  Pearse  how  perplexed  I  am.  It  will  be 
four  months  before  I  can  hear  in  reply,  and  the  very  kindness  of  the 
missionaries  who  have  received  me  with  open  arms  makes  me  fear  to 
be  burdensome.  Jesus  will  guide  me  aright.  ...  I  love  the  Chinese 
more  than  ever.     Oh  to  be  useful  among  them  !  " 

To  Mr.  Pearse  he  had  written  about  his  arrival,  and 
continued  on  March  3  : 

I  felt  very  much  disappointed  on  finding  no  letter  from  you,  but 
I  hope  to  receive  one  by  next  mail.  Shanghai  is  in  a  very  unsettled 
state,  the  Rebels  and  Imperialists  fighting  continually.  This  morning 
a  cannon  fired  near  us  awoke  me  before  daybreak,  shaking  the  house 
and  making  the  windows  rattle  violently. 

There  is  not  a  house  to  be  obtained  here,  or  even  part  of  one  ;  those 
not  occupied  by  Europeans  are  filled  with  Chinese  merchants  who 
have  left  the  city.  The  Pilot  told  me  they  will  give  for  only  three 
rooms  as  much  as  thirty  dollars  a  month,  and  in  some  instances  more. 
The  missionaries  who  were  living  in  the  city  have  had  to  leave,  and 
are  residing  with  others  here  in  the  Settlement  at  present ;  so  that 
had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Lockhart  I  should  have  been 
quite  nonplussed.  As  it  is  I  scarcely  know  what  to  do.  How  long 
the  present  state  of  things  may  last  it  is  impossible  to  say.  If  I  am  to 
stay  here.  Dr.  Lockhart  says  that  the  only  plan  will  be  to  buy  land 
and  build  a  house.  The  land  would  probably  cost  from  a  hundred 
to  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  the  house  three  or  four  hundred 
more.  If  peace  were  restored,  Dr.  Lockhart  thinks  I  could  rent  a 
house  in  the  city  at  from  two  to  three  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 
So  that  in  any  case  the  expense  of  living  here  must  be  great.  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  would  be  less  at  Hong-kong  or  any  other  port  ?  .  .  . 

Please  excuse  this  hasty,  disconnected  letter  with  all  its  faults.  It 
is  so  cold  just  now  that  I  can  scarcely  feel  pen  or  paper.  Everything 
is  very  dear,  and  fuel  costs  at  times  an  almost  fabulous  price.  Owing 
to  new  arrivals,  coal  is  now  at  thirty  dollars  [nearly  £10]  a  ton.  Once 
more  I  must  beg  you  to  excuse  this  letter,  .  .  .  and  please  reply  with 
all  possible  expedition  that  I  may  know  what  to  do. 

May  the  Lord  bless  and  prosper  you.  Continue  to  pray  much  for 
me,  and  may  we  all,  sure  of  Jesus'  love  when  everything  else  fails, 
seek  to  be  more  like  Him,  .  .  .  Soon  we  shall  meet  where  .  .  .  sorrow 
and  trial  shall  be  no  more.  Till  then  may  we  be  willing  to  bear  the 
cross,  and  not  only  to  do  but  to  suffer  His  will. 

"  The  cold  was  so  great  and  other  things  so  trying,"  he  continued 
to  his  parents  a  week  later,  "  that  I  scarcely  knew  what  I  was  doing 
or  saying  at  first.  Then,  what  it  means  to  be  so  far  from  home,  at 
the  seat  of  war,  and  not  able  to  understand  or  be  understood  by  the 


212  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

people  was  fully  realised.  Their  utter  wretchedness  and  misery,  and 
my  inability  to  help  them  or  even  point  them  to  Jesus,  powerfully 
affected  me.  Satan  came  in  as  a  flood  ;  but  there  was  One  who  lifted 
up  a  standard  against  him.  Jesus  is  here,  and  though  unknown  to 
the  majority  and  uncared-for  by  many  who  might  know  Him,  He  is 
present  and  precious  to  His  own." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MAKE   IT   A   PLACE   OF   SPRINGS 

April- August  1854.    Aet.  21-22. 

It  was  April  4,  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  in  Shanghai 
on  account  of  "  the  battle  of  Muddy  Flat,"  an  engagement 
between  foreign  troops  and  the  Imperial  soldiery.  And  a 
regular  battle  it  was,  the  Chinese  force  amounting  to  fifty 
thousand  men. 

For  some  time  the  attitude  of  the  latter  had  been  increas- 
ingly menacing  toward  Europeans,  several  of  whom,  includ- 
ing Dr.  Medhurst,  had  narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives. 
Under  cover  of  operations  against  the  native  city,  the 
Imperial  Camps  had  been  moved  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
Settlement,  until  the  foreign  community  with  all  they 
possessed  was  well  within  range  of  Chinese  guns.  Startled 
by  the  danger  of  their  position,  the  Consuls  agreed  to  require 
the  removal  of  the  camps  to  a  greater  distance,  and  when — 
the  time-limit  having  expired — their  demand  was  not 
complied  with,  felt  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  open  fire. 

And  then  it  was  only  too  evident  that  the  Chinese  were 
prepared  to  resist.  A  sharp  return  fire  poured  upon  the 
attacking  force,  many  of  whom  fell  before  it.  Still,  superior 
discipline  and  arms  carried  the  day,  and  the  handful  of 
Europeans,  volunteers  and  marines  from  the  gun-boats, 
succeeded  in  scattering  the  astonished  army  and  setting  fire 
to  the  deserted  camps. 

After  this,  relations  were  so  strained  that  it  was  hardly 
safe  for  Europeans  to  venture  beyond  the  protection  of 
their   own   guns.     At   first,   indeed,   it  seemed   as   though 

213 


214  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

retaliations  would  be  attempted,  and  the  Settlement  was 
barricaded  and  an  extra  gun-boat  sent  up.  But  no  attack 
was  made.  The  dislodged  soldiery  vented  their  rage  upon 
the  poor,  defenceless  villages  instead,  and  there  the  matter 
ended. 

All  this  was  not  only  a  keen  distress  of  mind  to  Hudson 
Taylor  ;  it  did  not  a  little  to  add  to  the  trial  of  his  position. 
For  just  before  the  battle  of  Muddy  Flat  the  way  had  seemed 
more  hopeful.  He  had  made  several  excursions  with  older 
missionaries  in  the  populous  plain  around  Shanghai,  and 
had  been  much  impressed  with  the  friendliness  manifested. 
Everywhere  the  foreigners  and  their  message  seemed 
welcome,  the  distracted  villagers  finding  in  their  presence 
some  hope  of  escape  from  the  cruelty  of  both  Rebel  and 
Imperial  soldiers.  This  had  encouraged  the  thought  that 
away  altogether  from  the  Settlement  he  might  find  a  home 
of  his  own  right  among  the  people.  The  danger  involved 
would  not  have  deterred  him  for  a  moment,  and  hardships 
would  have  been  welcome  that  enabled  him  to  live  within 
his  income  and  be  independent.  Besides,  he  longed  to  be 
more  in  touch  with  the  suffering  poor  around  him,  and  to 
do  what  little  he  could  to  help  them.  With  his  teacher,  he 
might  be  useful  medically  and  in  other  ways,  and  still  give 
a  large  part  of  his  time  to  study.  His  hopes  had  risen  with 
each  fresh  visit  to  the  country,  and  he  had  been  on  the  look- 
out for  a  suitable  place  in  which  to  settle. 

But  now  all  this  was  at  an  end,  and  even  preaching 
excursions  had  to  be  discontinued.  Foreigners  were  obliged 
to  remain  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  Settlement,  and 
missionary  work  was  much  hampered  in  consequence.  A 
journey  Mr.  Edkins  had  planned,  in  which  Hudson  Taylor 
was  to  have  been  his  companion,  had  to  be  given  up,  greatly 
to  the  disappointment  of  both  missionaries. 

"  Had  we  started  as  we  intended,"  wrote  the  latter,  "  or  had  this 
affair  happened  a  day  or  two  later,  we  should  probably  have  been 
seized  and  beheaded  by  the  Imperialists  in  revenge.  But  God  is  ever 
with  us.  On  His  watchful  protection  we  rely.  He  never  forgets, 
never  changes.  .  .  . 

"It  is  of  course  impossible  to  go  at  all  into  the  country  now,  so 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  215 

there  seems  no  chance  of  my  getting  a  place  of  my  own  at  present.  .  .  . 
I  would  give  anything  for  a  friend  with  whom  to  consult  freely.  My 
position  is  so  perplexing  that  if  I  had  not  definite  promises  of  Divine 
guidance  to  count  upon,  I  do  not  know  what  I  should  do^  There  is, 
I  fear,  no  probability  of  my  being  able  to  keep  within  my  salary  under 
present  circumstances.  If  I  had  quarters  of  my  own  1  could  live  on 
rice  (not  bread,  that  would  be  too  expensive)  and  drink  tea  without 
milk  or  sugar,  which  is  cheap  enough  here.  But  that  I  cannot  do 
now.  Things  are  increasing  in  expense  all  the  while  and  dollars  are 
getting  dearer.  They  were  at  six  and  a  penny  when  last  I  heard,  and 
if  we  are  involved  in  further  hostilities  may  rise  to  double  that  price— 
and  yet  have  no  more  purchasing  value.     Well,  He  will  provide.  .  .  . 

"  They  are  building  barricades  in  the  Settlement  to-day  [April  8], 
and  instead  of  seven  roads  into  it  are  going  to  have  only  three  or  four. 
I  think  we  are  safe  .  .  .  but  the  poor  people  round  us  are  in  a  sad 
state.     My  teacher  said  yesterday  : 

"  '  I  have  great  fear.  Turning  to  the  right  hand  I  fear  the  Rebels, 
and  on  the  left  the  Mandarin  soldiers  fill  me  with  alarm.  Truly  these 
are  hard  times  to  live  in.' 

"  What  the  poor  man  says  is  indeed  true.  ...  I  tried  to  comfort 
him  as  well  as  I  could.  Nothing  gives  me  so  much  delight  as  speaking 
even  a  few  words  for  Jesus,  and  I  hope  I  shall  soon  be  able  to  do  so 
more  freely." 

It  may  seem  exaggerated,  at  first  sight,  to  dwell  much 
upon  the  trials  of  Hudson  Taylor's  position.  True  he  w^as 
at  the  seat  of  war,  but  as  far  as  circumstances  permitted 
he  was  living  in  safety  and  even  comfort.  He  was  so  well 
off,  apparently,  that  one  wonders  at  the  undertone  of  suffer- 
ing in  his  letters,  until  a  little  consideration  reveals  another 
side  of  his  experiences.  The  assistance  received  from  Dr. 
Medhurst  and  other  L.M.S.  missionaries  was  of  the  greatest 
value,  and  yet  it  gave  rise  to  a  distressing  situation.  If  he 
had  belonged  to  their  Society  and  had  been  preparing  to 
work  with  and  for  them,  nothing  could  have  been  better. 
But  as  it  was,  he  felt  almost  like  an  unfledged  cuckoo — an 
intruder  in  another  bird's  nest.  That  his  companionship 
at  every  meal  in  solitary  tete-d-tete  was  somewhat  wearisome 
to  his  generous  host,  he  could  not  but  feel.  Not  that  he 
received  anything  but  kindness  from  Dr.  Lockhart  and  his 
associates.  But  he  was  not  as  they  were,  highly  educated 
and  connected  with  a  great  denomination  and  important 


2i6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

work.  The  preparation  providentially  ordered  for  him  had 
been  along  different  lines,  and  his  rehgious  views  made  him 
singular,  while  his  position  as  a  missionary  was  isolated 
and  open  to  criticism. 

He  had  been  sent  out,  hurried  out  almost  by  his  Society, 
before  his  medical  course  was  finished,  in  the  hope  of 
reaching  the  Rebels  at  Nanking.  Misled  by  optimistic 
reports  about  the  Tai-ping  Movement,  the  Secretaries  of 
the  C.E.S.  had  taken  a  position  that  to  practical  men  on 
the  field  seemed  wholly  absurd.  It  is  just  as  natural  for 
missionaries  to  be  critical,  apart  from  restraining  grace,  as 
for  others,  and  it  was  not  long  before  Hudson  Taylor  dis- 
covered that  the  Chinese  EvangeUsation  Society,  with  its 
aims  and  methods,  was  the  butt  of  no  little  ridicule  in 
Shanghai.  It  was  keenly  painful  as  The  Gleaner  came  out 
month  by  month  to  hear  it  pulled  to  pieces  in  this  spirit, 
although  he  could  not  but  acknowledge  that  many  of  the 
strictures  were  deserved.  This  did  not  make  it  easier,  how- 
ever, for  the  Society's  representative  in  that  part  of  China, 
especially  when  for  the  time  being  he  was  dependent  upon 
those  who  spoke  and  felt  so  strongly. 

He  realised  the  weaknesses  of  the  C.E.S. ,  or  was  coming 
to,  no  less  clearly  than  they  did  ;  but  he  knew  and  respected 
many  members  of  the  Committee,  and  to  some  (including 
the  Secretaries)  he  was  attached  with  grateful  love.  This 
put  matters  in  a  very  different  light.  Fellowship  with  them 
in  spiritual  things,  at  Tottenham  and  elsewhere,  could  never 
be  forgotten,  and  even  when  feeling  their  mistakes  most 
keenly  he  longed  for  their  atmosphere  of  prayer,  their  love 
of  the  Word  of  God  and  earnest  zeal  for  souls. 

The  influence  of  the  world  was  tremendously  strong  in 
Shanghai,  even  in  missionary  circles.  It  was  the  heyday 
of  the  Settlement,  as  regards  financial  and  commercial 
opportunities.  True,  a  temporary  check  had  been  imposed 
by  the  local  rebellion,  and  it  was  stiU  a  question  as  to  how 
long  the  disturbed  state  of  things  might  continue.  But  the 
native  city  once  again  in  the  hands  of  the  Imperialists, 
business  would  boom  and  the  price  of  land  go  up,  carrying 
all   commercial   undertakings   forward   on   a   flood-tide   of 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  217 

success.  And  so  it  proved  before  twelve  months  were  over. 
Many  a  fortune  was  to  be  made  in  Shanghai  in  those  days, 
and  lavish  expenditure  on  luxury,  with  its  attendant  evils, 
were  to  be  found  on  every  hand.  Among  the  Europeans 
hardly  a  man  of  advanced  age  was  to  be  seen,  for  it  was  a 
new  world  to  Western  enterprise,  entered  only  within  the 
last  twelve  years.^ 

Those  were  the  good  old  times  when  every  Englishman  in  China 
was  youthful,  the  great  firms  princely,  the  hospitality  unbounded, 
and  the  prospect  of  achieving  fortune  with  ordinary  industry  and  luck 
appeared  to  every  young  fellow  as  assured.^ 

Such  a  state  of  things  was  not  without  its  effect  on  the 
missionary  community.  The  great  expense  of  hving 
necessitated  increased  salaries  ;  and  it  was  unavoidable 
that  there  should  be  a  good  deal  of  intercourse  with  govern- 
ment officials,  to  whom  the  missionaries  were  useful  as 
interpreters,  and  with  officers  from  the  gun-boats  stationed 
at  Shanghai  for  the  protection  of  the  Settlement.  Without 
finding  fault  with  anything  or  any  one  in  particular,  there 
was  a  general  spirit  of  sociability  that  surprised  Hudson 
Taylor  a  good  deal.  It  was  not  what  he  had  expected  in 
missionary  life,  and  fell  far  short  of  his  ideal. 

He  himself,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  entirely  accord  with 
the  current  conception  of  what  a  missionary  should  be.  He 
was  bright  and  fairly  educated,  but  had  no  university  or 
college  training,  had  taken  no  medical  degree,  and  disclaimed 
the  title  Reverend  given  him  at  first  on  all  hands.     That  he 

1  The  Treaty  of  Nanking,  opening  the  "  Five  Ports "  to  Western 
commerce,  had  only  been  signed  twelve  years  previously,  in  1842. 

'^  Sir  Thomas  Sutherland,  G.C.M.G.  ;  article  entitled  "  Far  Eastern 
Shipping,  Fifty  Years  Ago,"  in  The  London  and  China  Express  for  Nov- 
ember 27,  1908  :   Fiftieth  Anniversary  Number. 

The  next  paragraph  continues:  "  Exchange  was  constant  at  not  less 
than  4s.  6d.  for  the  dollar  and  6s.  8d.  for  the  tael.  The  current  rate  of 
interest  was  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum.  Alas !  a  change  came  oyer  the 
spirit  of  the  dream  a  few  years  later,  when  the  telegraph  reached  China  and 
the  centre  of  gravity  in  trade  was  in  large  measure  transferred  to  Europe. 
No  longer  could  China  merchants  store  their  silk  and  teas  in  London  with 
the  tolerable  certainty  that  if  they  held  their  merchandise  long  enough  the 
price  would  rise  to  meet  their  demands.  Following  the  telegraph,  the 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  rapid  development  of  steam-shipping 
changed  completely  the  character  of  Eastern  trade.  But  I  am  anticipating 
events  that  were  undreamed  of  in  China  or  India  fifty  years  ago." 


2i8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

was  good  and  earnest  could  easily  be  seen  ;  but  he  was  con- 
nected with  no  particular  denomination,  nor  was  he  sent  out 
by  any  special  Church.  He  expected  to  do  medical  work, 
but  he  was  not  a  doctor.  He  was  accustomed,  evidently, 
to  preaching  and  an  almost  pastoral  care  of  others,  and  yet 
was  not  ordained.  And  strangest  perhaps  of  all,  though 
he  belonged  to  a  Society  that  seemed  well  supplied  with 
funds,  his  salary  was  insufficient  and  his  appearance  shabby 
compared  with  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded. 

That  Hudson  Taylor  felt  all  this,  and  felt  it  increasingly 
as  time  went  on,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  He  had  come 
out  with  such  different  expectations  !  His  one  longing  was 
to  go  inland  and  live  among  the  people.  He  wanted  to 
keep  down  expenses  and  continue  the  simple,  self-denying 
life  he  had  lived  at  home.  To  learn  the  language  that  he 
might  win  souls  was  his  one  ambition.  He  cared  nothing, 
nothing  at  all  about  worldly  estimates  and  social  pleasures, 
though  he  did  long  for  fellowship  in  the  things  of  God. 
With  a  salary  of  eighty  pounds  a  year,  he  found  himself 
unable  to  manage  upon  twice  that  sum.  So  he  was  really 
poor,  poor  and  in  serious  difficulty  before  long  ;  and  there 
was  no  one  to  impress  the  fact  upon  the  Committee  at  home 
or  make  them  understand  the  situation. 

Then  too  he  was  lonely,  unavoidably  lonely.  The 
missionaries  with  whom  he  lived  were  all  a  good  deal 
older  than  himself,  with  the  exception  of  the  Burdons  who 
were  fully  occupied  with  their  work.  He  could  not  trespass 
on  their  kindness  too  frequently,  and  having  no  colleague 
of  his  own  found  it  impossible  to  speak  of  many  matters 
connected  with  the  Society  and  future  developments  that 
were  on  his  heart.  Soon  he  learned  to  mention  such  affairs 
as  little  as  possible,  but  he  did  long  for  some  one  with  whom 
to  bring  them  before  the  Throne  of  Grace. 

Much  as  he  felt  his  position,  however,  it  was  well  for  the 
young  missionary  that  he  could  not  hive  off  just  then  or 
attempt  to  live  on  rice  and  tea  minus  milk  or  sugar.  He 
would  have  done  it  had  he  been  his  own  master.  He  would 
have  done  anything  along  lines  of  self-sacrifice  to  make  the 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  219 

money  given  for  missionary  purposes  go  as  far  as  possible. 
But  in  that  unaccustomed  and  trying  climate  it  would  have 
been  a  dangerous  experiment  during  the  hot  season.  And 
more  than  this — were  there  not  higher  purposes  in  view  in 
the  providential  limitations  imposed  upon  him  at  this  time  ? 
He  longed  to  be  free  and  independent,  and  the  Lord  saw  fit 
to  keep  him  in  the  very  opposite  position,  letting  him  learn 
from  experience  what  it  is  to  be  poor  and  weak  and  in- 
debted to  others  even  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  For  His 
own.  His  well-beloved  Son  there  was  no  better  way  ;  and 
there  are  lessons  still  that  only  can  be  learned  in  this  school. 

But  for  such  circumstances  early  in  his  missionary  career, 
Hudson  Taylor  would  never  have  been  able  to  feel  for  others 
as  it  was  necessary  he  should.  By  nature  he  was  resourceful 
and  independent  to  a  fault.  He  had  sacrificed,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  hope  and  ambition  of  years,  breaking  off  his  medical 
curriculum  before  he  could  obtain  a  degree,  simply  that 
he  might  be  free  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the  Lord  as  it 
came  to  him  personally,  untrammelled  by  obligations  even 
to  the  Society  with  which  he  was  connected.  And  now  at 
the  very  opening  of  his  new  life  in  China,  he  found  himself 
cast  upon  the  generosity  of  strangers,  shut  up  to  a  position 
as  little  welcome,  possibly,  to  them  as  to  himself,  and  from 
which  there  seemed  for  a  long  time  to  come  no  hope  of 
escape. 

As  spring  advanced,  his  journal  gave  evidence  of  more 
trial  and  depression  of  spirits  than  could  be  attributed  to 
the  climate.  His  eyes,  never  strong,  became  inflamed 
through  the  sunshine  and  excessive  dust,  and  he  suffered 
also  a  great  deal  from  headache.  In  spite  of  this  he  worked 
at  Chinese  on  an  average  five  hours  every  day,  besides  giving 
time  to  necessary  correspondence.  To  Mr.  Pearse  he  wrote 
as  fully  as  possible,  trying  to  supply  information  that  would 
interest  readers  of  The  Gleaner,  as  well  as  detailed  state- 
ments of  the  condition  of  things  around  him  with  a  view 
to  the  future  conduct  of  the  work. 

From  these  letters  one  sees  how  much  he  was  beginning 
to  feel  the  monotony  of  a  young  missionary's  life,  occupied 
mainly  with  study.     There  was  little  of  interest  to  write 


220  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

about,  now  that  he  was  practically  restricted  to  the  Settle- 
ment, and  it  is  clear  that  he  was  passing  through  that  stage 
of  weariness  and  disillusionment  in  which  so  many,  drifting 
away  from  the  Lord,  lose  spiritual  usefulness  and  power. 
What  missionary  does  not  know  the  temptation  at  such  a 
time  to  let  go  higher  ideals  and  sink  to  the  level  about  one  ? 
Prayer  becomes  an  effort  and  Bible  reading  distasteful,  and 
the  longing  creeps  in  for  stimulus  of  some  kind — if  it  be 
only  that  of  gossip  or  novel-reading.  Then  the  way  is 
open  for  a  fault-finding,  critical  spirit,  for  dissatisfaction 
and  irritabiUty,  and  gradually  for  worse  backshding  still. 
And  all  this,  so  often,  has  its  first  beginnings  in  the  almost 
unendurable  monotony  from  which  the  young  missionary 
finds  it  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  escape. 

"  Pray  for  me,  pray  earnestly  for  me,"  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  to 
his  mother  eariy  in  April,  "  you  little  know  what  I  may  be  needing 
when  you  read  this." 

And  to  Mr.  Pearse  a  few  days  later : 

May  the  Lord  raise  up  and  send  out  many  labourers  into  this  part 
of  His  vineyard  and  sustain  those  who  are  already  here.  No  amount 
of  romantic  excitement  can  do  that.  There  is  so  much  that  is  re- 
pugnant to  the  flesh  that  nothing  but  the  power  of  God  can  uphold 
His  servants  in  such  a  sphere,  just  as  His  blessing  alone  can  give  them 
success. 

Thanks  to  good  judgment  and  sensible  home-training, 
Hudson  Taylor  was  in  less  danger  than  many  young  mission- 
aries during  those  months  of  language  study.  From  early 
childhood  he  had  been  encouraged,  as  we  have  seen,  to  take 
an  interest  in  "  nature  study,"  his  butterflies  and  insects 
being  always  housed  with  consideration  though  at  some 
cost  to  his  parents  in  their  limited  surroundings.  This 
stood  him  in  good  stead,  for  now  he  not  only  knew  the 
value  of  such  recreation,  but  also  how  to  take  it  up. 

"  Ordered  a  cabinet  for  insects,"  runs  the  journal  for  April  25,  "  and 
worked  at  Chinese  and  photography. 

"  April  28  :  Very  warm  again.  Worked  at  Chinese  five  hours. 
Had  a  bad  headache  all  day.  Caught  a  few  insects  as  a  commence- 
ment of  my  collection. 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  221 

"  April  29  :  At  Chinese  six  hours.  After  dinner  took  a  walk  in 
search  of  nocturnal  insects.  Had  some  difficulty  in  getting  into  the 
Settlement  again,  the  gates  being  closed." 

"  To-day/'  he  wrote  to  his  mother  in  May,  "  I  caught  sight  of  a 
large  black  butterfly  with  swallow-tail  wings,  the  largest  living  butter- 
fly I  have  ever  seen.  ...  At  first  I  thought  it  must  be  a  small  bird, 
although  it  seemed  to  fly  so  strangely.  But  when  it  settled  on  a  tree 
and  I  saw  the  splendid  creature,  it  really  took  my  breath  away  .  .  . 
it  was  so  fine  ! 

"  I  intend  also  to  collect  botanical  specimens,  but  at  present  have 
no  convenience.  .  .  .  There  are  some  trees  here  that  have  a  strange 
look  to  our  eyes,  being  covered  with  blossoms  before  a  single  leaf 
appears.  Among  the  wild  plants  I  see  many  old  friends — the  violet, 
forget-me-not,  buttercup,  clover,  chickweed,  dandelion,  hemlock, 
and  several  common  herbs.  There  are  also  wild  flowers  that  are  new 
to  me  and  very  pretty." 

In  addition  to  working  hard  at  Chinese  this  summer  he 
was  diligently  keeping  up  other  studies,  medicine  and 
chemistry  especially,  that  he  might  not  lose  the  benefit  of 
his  hospital  course.  The  classics  he  gave  as  much  time  to 
as  possible,  and  he  seems  always  to  have  had  some  useful 
book  on  hand  dealing  with  history,  biography,  or  natural 
science.  The  following  is  a  typical  entry  in  a  journal- 
letter  to  his  sister  : 

Before  breakfast  read  Medicine,  then  Chinese  nearly  seven  hours. 
After  dinner,  Greek  and  Latin  exercises,  each  an  hour.  After 
poring  over  these  things  till  one  can  scarcely  see,  it  is  a  comfort 
to  have  a  fine,  clear,  large-type  Bible,  such  as  Aunt  Hardey  gave  me. 
It  is  quite  a  luxury.  Well,  all  these  studies  are  necessary.  Some  of 
them,  the  classical  languages  of  Europe,  ought  to  have  been  mastered 
long  ago  ;  so  it  is  now  or  never  with  me.  But  the  sweetest  duties  of 
the  day  are  those  that  lead  to  Jesus — prayer,  reading  and  meditation 
upon  His  precious  Word. 

Summer  was  now  upon  them — those  hottest  months  of 
the  year  when  one  lives  in  a  perpetual  Turkish  bath,  and 
mosquitoes,  prickly-heat,  and  sleeplessness  have  to  be 
reckoned  with,  as  well  as  a  temperature  that  for  weeks 
together  scarcely  falls  below  80°  F.  at  night.  It  is  easy  to 
write  about  it,  but  who  that  has  not  lived  through  such 
days  and  nights  can  imagine  how  much  grace  it  takes  to 
bear  the  discomfort  and  distress  without  irritability,  and 


222  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

keep  on  steadily  with  work  when  all  one's  courage  seems 
needed  just  to  endure. 

All  through  this  trying  season,  however,  Hudson  Taylor 
kept  up  his  studies,  never  falling  below  his  average  of  five 
hours  at  Chinese  every  day.  Once  or  twice  he  went  into 
the  country  with  Mr.  Burdon,  risky  as  it  was  to  attempt  it. 

"  These  are  troublous  times/'  he  wrote,  "  but  we  must  do  some- 
thing." 

And  their  faith  that  the  Lord  would  help  them  was 
rewarded  by  the  welcome  met  with  from  the  village  people, 
who  were  only  too  glad  to  see  them  out  again. 

"  I  think  I  may  say  I  have  one  friend  now,"  he  added,  telling  of  a 
happy  evening  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burdon  after  one  such  excursion. 
"  But  I  do  not  want  to  go  over  there  too  often,  as  I  am  only  one  of  his 
circle  and  he  has  a  wife  for  company.  I  feel  the  want  of  a  companion 
very  much.  The  day  is  spent  with  my  teacher,  but  my  evenings 
generally  alone  in  writing  or  study." 

Letters,  of  course,  were  a  great  comfort,  and  much  time 
was  given  during  his  first  year  in  China  to  correspondence. 
Strangely  enough  the  months  of  June  and  July  brought  him 
the  peculiar  trial  of  hearing  nothing  from  home  mail  after 
mail  when  he  was  especially  longing  for  news.  How  this 
happened  never  quite  appeared,  for  he  had  been  written 
to  regularly,  but  the  letters  never  reached  him,  or  if  they 
did  it  was  out  of  their  proper  order  and  long  after  they  were 
due.  This,  combined  with  the  great  heat  and  the  effects  of  a 
brief  but  serious  illness,  tried  him  to  a  degree  that  can  only 
be  understood  by  those  who  have  been  in  similar  circum- 
stances. 

"  When  last  mail  came  in,"  he  wrote  to  his  mother  in  the  middle 
of  June, "  after  walking  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  Consulate  on  a  broiling 
hot  day  and  waiting  nearly  two  hours,  which  lost  me  my  'tiffin'  or  mid- 
day meal,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  bringing  up  letters  and  papers  for 
every  one  at  the  Mission  except  myself.  When  I  found  there  really 
was  nothing  for  me,  the  disappointment  was  so  great  that  I  felt  quite 
sick  and  faint  and  could  scarcely  manage  to  walk  home,  for  it  was 
reported  that  we  should  have  no  other  mail  for  six  or  eight  weeks." 

Another  trial  of  those  summer  months,  and  one  he  felt 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  223 

still  more  keenly,  was  his  financial  position,  overlooked 
apparently  by  the  Society.  The  first  quarter  since  his 
arrival  in  China  was  now  at  an  end,  and  on  making  up  his 
accounts  he  was  more  than  troubled.  His  balance  in  hand 
was  so  small  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  draw  again  very 
soon,  and  he  had  already  spent  more  than  a  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars.  At  that  rate  his  salary  would  be  exhausted 
before  half  the  year  was  over,  and  what  would  the  Committee 
say  and  think  ? 

With  anxious  care  he  explained  to  Mr.  Pearse  every  item 
in  these  accounts,  the  first  he  ever  sent  home  from  China, 
revealing  touching  details  as  to  needs  he  had  not  supplied 
because  of  his  desire  to  save  expense  as  far  as  possible. 

"  I  feel  quite  oppressed  when  I  think  of  what  a  cost  I  am  to  the 
Society/'  he  wrote,  "  and  yet  how  little  good  I  am  able  to  accomplish." 

And  just  then,  to  add  to  his  perplexity,  news  reached  him 
in  a  round-about  way  that  seemed  a  chmax  to  his  troubles. 
The  Society  was  sending  another  missionary  to  Shanghai,  and 
not  a  bachelor  like  himself,  but  a  married  man  with  a  family. 
Dr.  Parker,  a  Scotch  physician  who  had  apphed  to  the  C.E.S. 
before  Hudson  Taylor  left  England,  was  already  on  his  way 
to  join  him  and  might  be  expected  in  a  few  months.  Glad 
as  the  young  missionary  would  have  been  of  such  tidings 
under  other  circumstances,  with  Shanghai  in  the  condition 
in  which  it  was  the  outlook  was  cause  indeed  for  concern. 
Dependent  himself  for  shelter  upon  the  generosity  of  others, 
what  arrangements  could  he  make  for  a  married  couple  with 
three  children  ?  He  hardly  dared  mention  it  to  those  with 
whom  he  was  Hving,  and  yet  the  news  would  soon  be  the 
talk  of  the  Settlement  whether  he  kept  silence  or  not. 

Anxiously  he  awaited  letters  from  the  Committee  ex- 
plaining the  situation.  Surely  they  would  send  him  notice, 
in  view  of  all  he  had  written,  of  such  an  addition  to  their 
staff,  and  instruct  him  fully  how  to  act.  But  mail  after 
mail  came  in  with  no  reference  to  Dr.  Parker's  coming. 
Repeated  requests  for  directions  as  to  how  to  arrange  for 
himself  had  as  yet  received  no  answer,  and  before  summer 


224  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

was  over  Hudson  Taylor  saw  that  he  must  act  on  his  own 
initiative. 

Meanwhile  comments  and  questions  were  not  wanting 
that  made  the  position  more  trying.  "Is  it  true  that  a 
medical  man  is  about  to  join  you,  with  a  wife  and  family  ? 
When  did  you  hear  it  ?  Why  did  you  not  tell  us  ?  Have 
you  bought  land  ?  Why  do  you  not  begin  to  build  ?  " 
And  so  forth  !  To  all  of  which  no  satisfactory  reply  was 
forthcoming.  At  first  in  his  perplexity  Hudson  Taylor 
suffered  as  only  a  sensitive  nature  can  ;  but  when  the  talk 
was  at  its  worst  and  the  summer  heat  almost  unbearable, 
the  Lord  himself  drew  near  and  went  with  him. 

"  As  you  know,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Pearse  in  July,  "  I  have  been 
much  tried  since  coming  here,  '  pressed  beyond  measure  '  almost  at 
times.  But  the  goodness  of  God  is  never-failing ;  and  the  last  few 
days  I  have  enjoyed  such  a  sweet  sense  of  His  love,  and  such  a  personal 
application  of  some  of  the  promises  as  though  they  were  written  or 
spoken  directly  to  me,  that  the  oil  of  joy  has  indeed  been  given  me 
for  mourning.  I  feel  sure  that  dear  friends  in  England  have  been 
specially  remembering  me  in  prayer,  and  I  am  truly  grateful.  Oh, 
continue  to  pray  for  me  !  I  am  so  weak  that  difficulties  seem  over- 
whelming,and  ofttimes  I  have  to  cry  with  Peter, 'Save,  Lord;  I  perish.' 
But  never  does  that  cry  go  up  in  vain.  He  has  a  balm  for  every 
wound,  and  is  always  ready  to  calm  the  troubled  waters  of  the  soul. 
I  long  much  for  the  time  when  I  shall  be  able  to  spread  the  knowledge 
of  His  grace  among  this  people  in  their  own  tongue.  May  that  time 
be  hastened  and  an  effectual  door  opened  before  me.  .  .  . 

"  I  hope  I  may  be  able  to  find  a  home  of  some  kind  for  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Parker  on  their  arrival,  though  I  cannot  see  how  or  where  it  will 
be.  All  the  houses  seem  more  than  filled  already,  and  new  missionaries 
are  expected  out.  I  think  it  seems  necessary  that  you  should  at  once 
consider  and  decide  upon  the  question  of  building.  If  we  are  to 
establish  a  Mission  in  Shanghai  there  is  no  alternative.  No  one  can 
have  a  greater  objection  to  building  than  I  have,  or  see  its  disadvant- 
ages more  clearly.  But  the  question  lies  at  present  within  narrow 
limits.  There  is  only  a  given  space  in  which  we  are  permitted  to 
live,  i.e.  the  Settlement,  and  in  it  all  the  houses  are  occupied  or  shortly 
will  be.  We  may  or  may  not  find  those  who,  having  been  at  the 
expense  of  building  for  themselves,  are  willing  to  accommodate  us  for 
a  time,  to  their  own  inconvenience ;  but  this  cannot  be  a  permanent 
state  of  things.  Those  who  are  best  able  to  judge  see  no  hope  of  a 
restoration  of  peace  for  years  to  come ;  but  we  are  all  very  short- 
sighted when  we  look  into  futurity." 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  225 

The  more  he  thought  over  the  situation,  the  more  he 
felt  that  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  seek  a  native  house 
in  the  Chinese  part  of  the  Settlement,  in  which  to  receive 
the  travellers  who  were  drawing  nearer  every  day.  So  in 
spite  of  overpowering  heat  and  his  lack  of  a  sedan-chair,  he 
set  about  the  weary  search  once  more.  It  was  four  or  five 
months  now  since  he  had  hunted  for  quarters  on  his  first 
arrival  without  finding  even  a  room  available,  and  if  anything 
the  conditions  seemed  worse  than  before.  Nothing  he  could 
begin  to  think  of  was  to  be  found,  and  but  for  a  growing 
rest  of  heart  in  God,  Hudson  Taylor  would  have  been  almost 
in  despair.  As  it  was,  he  was  learning  precious  lessons  of 
his  own  helplessness — and  of  Almighty  strength. 

To  Miss  Stacey  in  Tottenham  he  wrote  during  those 
August  days  : 

How  sweet  is  the  thought  that  we  have  not  an  High  Priest  who 
cannot  be  "  touched  with  the  feehng  of  our  infirmities/'  but  One 
who  was  "  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin." 
Nothing  is  more  sure  than  that  we  are  wholly  unable  to  sympathise 
with  those  in  whose  circumstances  we  have  never  been  placed.  How 
delightful  then  is  the  reflection  that  though  our  friends  can  only  in 
part  enter  into  our  joys  and  sorrows,  trials  and  discouragements, 
there  is  One  ever  ready  to  sympathise  to  the  full ;  One  to  whom  we 
have  constant  access,  and  from  whom  we  may  receive  present  help  in 
every  time  of  need. 

This  has  been  such  a  comfort  to  me  when  thinking  and  perplexed 
as  to  a  residence  not  for  myself  only  but  for  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Parker, 
In  the  present  state  of  Shanghai  this  is  no  easy  problem,  there  being 
neither  native  nor  foreign  houses  unoccupied.  But  I  have  much  to 
be  thankful  for.  Our  dear  Redeemer  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head. 
I  have  never  yet  been  placed  in  that  extremity. 

One  who  is  really  leaning  on  the  Beloved  finds  it  always  possible 
to  say,  "  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me."  But  I  am  so 
apt,  like  Peter,  to  take  my  eyes  off  the  one  Object  and  look  at  the 
winds  and  waves.  As  in  that  scene,  however,  the  grace  and  tender- 
ness of  Jesus  are  as  apparent  as  Peter's  little  faith,  so  with  us  to-day  ; 
as  soon  as  we  turn  to  Him,  "  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them 
that  have  no  might  He  increaseth  strength."  While  we  depend 
entirely  on  Him  we  are  secure,  and  prosper  in  circumstances  apparently 
the  most  unfavourable.  .  .  . 

Oh  for  more  stability  !  The  reading  of  the  Word  and  meditation 
on  the  promises  have  been  increasingly  precious  to  me  of  late.     At 

Q 


226  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

first  I  allowed  my  desire  to  acquire  the  language  speedily  to  have 
undue  prominence  and  a  deadening  effect  on  my  soul.  You  see  from 
this  how  much  I  need  your  prayers.  But  now,  in  the  grace  that  passes 
all  understanding,  the  Lord  has  again  caused  His  face  to  shine  upon 
me. 

And  to  his  sister  Amelia  he  added,  two  days  later  : 

I  have  been  puzzling  my  brains  again  about  a  house,  etc.,  but  to 
no  effect.  So  I  have  made  it  a  matter  of  prayer,  and  have  given  it 
entirely  into  the  Lord's  hands,  and  now  I  feel  quite  at  peace  about 
it.  He  will  provide  and  be  my  Guide  in  this  and  every  other  per- 
plexing step. 

"  Quite  at  peace  about  it  " — with  such  serious  difficulties 
ahead  !  A  situation  he  could  not  meet,  needs  for  which  he 
had  no  provision  and  no  possibility  of  making  any,  a  problem 
he  had  puzzled  over  until  he  was  baffled,  and  to  no  effect  ! 
"  So  I  have  made  it  a  matter  of  prayer,"  is  the  simple,  restful 
conclusion,  "  and  have  given  it  entirely  into  the  Lord's 
hands.  He  will  provide  and  be  my  Guide  in  this  as  in 
every  other  perplexing  step." 

Yes,  that  is  how  it  ever  has  been,  ever  must  be  with  the 
people  of  God.  Until  we  are  carried  quite  out  of  our  depth, 
beyond  all  our  own  wisdom  and  resources,  we  are  not  more 
than  beginners  in  the  school  of  faith.  Only  as  everything 
fails  us  and  we  fail  ourselves,  finding  out  how  poor  and  weak 
we  really  are,  how  ignorant  and  helpless,  do  we  begin  to 
draw  upon  abiding  strength.  "  Blessed  is  the  man  whose 
strength  is  in  Thee  "  ;  not  partly  in  Thee  and  partly  in  him- 
self. The  devil  often  makes  men  strong,  strong  in  them- 
selves to  do  evil — great  conquerors,  great  acquirers  of  wealth 
and  power.  The  Lord  on  the  contrary  makes  His  servant 
weak,  puts  him  in  circumstances  that  will  shew  him  his  own 
nothingness,  that  he  may  lean  upon  the  strength  that  is 
unfailing.  It  is  a  long  lesson  for  most  of  us  ;  but  it  cannot 
be  passed  over  until  deeply  learned.  And  God  Himself 
thinks  no  trouble  too  great,  no  care  too  costly  to  teach  us 
this. 

Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee 
these  forty  years  in  the  wilderness^  to  humble  thee  and  to  prove  thee 


MAKE  IT  A  PLACE  OF  SPRINGS  227 

and  to  know  what  was  in  thine  heart,  .  .  .  that  He  might  make 
thee  know.  .  .  . 

Yes,  "  all  that  long,  wearisome,  painful  experience, 
infinitely  well  worth  while  in  the  sight  of  the  Eternal,  if  it 
produced  one  moral,  spiritual  trait  in  the  people  He  was 
educating  : — what  a  scale  of  values  !  " 

At  which  point  in  our  meditation,  fresh  light  was  thrown 
upon  all  this  from  the  eighty-fourth  Psalm,  by  an  aged  saint 
drawing  upon  the  fulness  of  his  own  experience.^ 

"  Speaking  to  my  students  one  day/'  he  said,  "  I  asked  them  : 
'  Young  men,  which  is  the  longest,  widest,  most  populous  valley  in 
the  world  ?  '  And  they  began  to  summon  up  all  their  geographical 
information  to  answer  me. 

"  But  it  was  not  the  valley  of  the  Yangtze,  the  Congo,  or  the 
Mississippi.  Nay,  this  Jammerthal,  as  it  is  in  our  German,  this 
valley  of  Baca,  or  weeping,  exceeds  them  all.  For  six  thousand  years 
we  trace  it  back,  filled  all  the  way  with  an  innumerable  multitude. 
For  every  life  passes  at  some  time  into  the  Vale  of  Weeping. 

"  But  the  point  for  us  is  not  what  do  we  suffer  here,  but  what  do  we 
leave  behind  us  ?  What  have  we  made  of  it,  this  long,  dark  Valley, 
for  ourselves  and  others  ?  What  is  our  attitude  as  we  pass  through 
its  shadows  ?  Do  we  desire  only,  chiefly,  the  shortest  way  out  ? 
Or  do  we  seek  to  find  it,  to  make  it,  according  to  His  Promise,  '  a 
place  of  springs  ' :  here  a  spring  and  there  a  spring,  for  the  blessing 
of  others  and  the  glory  of  Our  God  ? 

"  Thus  it  is  with  the  man  '  whose  strength  is  in  Thee.'  He  has 
learned  the  preciousness  of  this  Jammerthal,  and  that  these  dry, 
hard  places  yield  the  springs  for  which  hearts  are  thirsting  the  wide 
world  over. 

"  So  St.  Paul  in  his  life.  What  a  long  journey  he  had  to  make 
through  the  Valley  of  Weeping  ! 

"  '  In  labours  more  abundant,  in  stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons 
more  frequent,  in  deaths  oft.  Of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I  forty 
stripes  save  one.  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  was  I  stoned, 
thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a  day  have  I  been  in  the  deep. 
In  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils 
by  mine  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the 
city,  in""  perils  of  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among 
false  brethren.  In  weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watchings  often, 
in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness.    Besides 

^  The  beloved  and  now  departed  Herr  Inspektor,  C.  H.  Rappard-Gobat, 
director  of  the  "  Pilgrim  Mission  "  at  St.  Chrischona,  near  Basel,  himself 
in  early  years  a  missionary. 


228  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

those  things  that  are  without,  that  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,  the 
care  of  all  the  churches.' 

"  A  long  journey  indeed  through  the  Valley  of  Weeping;  but  oh, 
what  springs  of  blessing  !  What  rain  filling  the  pools  !  We  drink 
of  it  still  to-day." 

And  is  not  this  the  meaning,  dear  reader,  of  your  life 
and  mine  in  much  that  is  hard  to  be  understood  ?  The 
Lord  loves  us  too  well  to  let  us  miss  the  best.  He  has  to 
weaken  our  strength  in  the  way,  to  bring  us  into  the  Valley 
of  Weeping,  to  empty,  humble  and  prove  us,  that  we  too 
may  know  that  our  strength,  every  bit  of  it,  is  in  Him  alone, 
and  learn  as  Hudson  Taylor  did  to  leave  ourselves  entirely 
in  His  hands. 

So  your  Valley  of  Weeping  shall  become  "  a  place  of 
springs."  Many  shall  drink  of  the  living  water,  because 
you  have  suffered,  trusted,  conquered  through  faith  in  God. 
You  go  on  your  ways  as  He  has  promised,  to  appear  at  last 
in  Zion,  rejoicing  before  God  ;  and  in  the  Valley  of  Weeping 
remains  for  those  that  follow  many  a  well,  still  springing  up 
in  blessing  where  your  feet  have  trod. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

building  in  troublous  times 

August-November  1854.    Aet.  22. 

It  must  have  seemed  almost  too  good  to  be  true  when  only 
two  days  after  the  preceding  letter  was  written  Hudson 
Taylor  heard  of  a  house,  and  before  the  month  was  over 
found  himself  in  possession  of  premises  large  enough  to 
accommodate  his  expected  colleagues.  Five  rooms  upstairs 
and  seven  down  seemed  a  spacious  residence  indeed  ;  and 
though  it  was  only  a  native  house,  built  of  wood  and  very 
ramshackle,  it  was  right  among  the  people,  near  the  North 
Gate  of  the  Chinese  city. 

It  did  not  all  come  about,  however,  as  easily  as  the  state- 
ment is  made.  Between  August  9  and  21  he  learned 
many  a  lesson  of  patience,  for  in  China  these  arrangements 
are  compassed  with  difficulty.  The  house  first  heard  of 
was  not  the  one  finally  obtained,  nor  was  the  price  first 
demanded  one  that  he  could  or  would  give  ;  and  between 
the  two  lay  much  weary  negotiation  that  had  to  be  carried 
on  through  interpreters  and  deepened  the  debt  he  was 
already  under  to  his  missionary  friends. 

So  much  labour  and  difficulty  in  accomplishing  so  ordinary 
a  transaction  opened  his  eyes  to  what  really  constitutes  a 
large  part  of  the  trial  of  missionary  life.  He  was  reading 
at  the  time  The  Hand  of  God  in  History,  and  wrote  to  his 
sister  who  had  given  it  him  : 

What  a  very  different  thing  it  is  to  review  the  aggregate  success  of 
Missions  and  missionaries  over  many  years  from  taking  part  in  the 
process  itself  with  all  its  trials  and  discouragements.     But  let  us  be 

229 


230  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

comforted.  So  will  it  be  for  us  too  at  last.  One  smile  from  Him  we 
love  will  repay  all  the  sorrows,  and  leave  a  clear  balance  to  the  good 
of  whatever  has  been  accomplished. 

"  Oh  Amelia/'  he  continued  when  difificulties  were  at  their  worst, 
' '  one  needs  an  anchor  for  one's  faith  .  .  .  and  thank  God  we  have 
it !  The  promises  of  God  stand  sure.  '  The  Lord  knoweth  them 
that  are  His.'  How  easy  it  is  to  talk  about  economy,  the  high  salaries 
of  missionaries,  and  all  the  rest.  But  there  is  more  than  one  missionary 
here  who  hardly  knows  how  to  manage  to  make  both  ends  meet. 
Well,  if  we  want  a  city,  there  is  one  we  can  turn  back  to.  But  no, 
we  will  be  pilgrims  and  strangers  here,  looking  for  a  better  home, 
'  that  is  an  heavenly,'  '  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.'  Oh  that 
those  around  us  had  the  same  hope  !  ,  .  . 

"  You  ask  how  I  get  over  my  troubles.  This  is  the  way.  .  .  I 
take  them  to  the  Lord.  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  been  reading 
my  evening  portion.  The  Old  Testament  part  of  it  happens  to  be 
the  72nd  to  the  74th  Psalms.  Read  them  as  I  have  if  you  want  to 
see  how  applicable  they  are.  I  don't  know  how  it  is,  but  I  seldom 
can  read  Scripture  now  without  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude.  .  .  . 

"  I  see  that  to  be  as  I  am  and  have  been  since  my  arrival  has  really 
been  more  conducive  to  improvement  and  progress  than  any  other 
position  would  have  been,  though  in  many  respects  it  has  been  painful 
and  far  from  what  I  should  have  chosen  for  myself.  Oh  for  more 
implicit  reliance  on  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God  !  " 

But  even  when  the  agreement  was  signed  and  sealed, 
much  yet  remained  to  be  accomphshed. 

"  My  house  has  twelve  rooms,"  he  wrote,  ..."  doors  without  end, 
passages  innumerable,  outhouses  everywhere,  and  all  covered  with 
dust,  filth,  rubbish  and  refuse.  What  all  the  outhouses  have  been 
for  I  cannot  imagine.  There  are  no  less  than  thirty-six  of  them, 
none  of  which  I  want  or  shall  use.  I  have  been  getting  a  whole  batch 
of  doors  fastened  up,  for  however  well  it  may  suit  a  Chinaman  to  have 
six  or  eight  ways  into  his  house,  it  does  not  please  me  at  all  just  now. 
I  see  how  to  arrange  it  so  that  with  one  pair  of  gates  I  can  shut  off  the 
dwelling  itself  from  all  the  outhouses.  Indoors  there  are  two  stair- 
cases of  a  sort.  One  of  these  I  am  having  removed  and  the  trap-door 
screwed  down. 

"  The  five  upstair  rooms  are  side  by  side,  each  communicating 
with  the  others  by  double  doors  ...  so  that  the  middle  rooms  have 
not  much  privacy.  This  set  of  apartments  I  shall  whitewash  and 
fumigate  thoroughly  .  .  .  taking  one  for  a  bedroom  and  another  for 
dining-room  and  study.  Once  there  I  must  dig  away  at  this  fearful 
Shanghai  dialect  with  its  eight  tones,  for  which  I  shall  need  a  new 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  231 

teacher.     He  will  probably  occupy  some  of  the  downstair  rooms, 
which  not  being  raised  above  the  ground  are  of  little  use  for  foreigners." 

But  it  was  one  thing  to  talk  about  cleaning  the  house 
and  going  into  residence,  and  quite  another  to  accomphsh 
it,  as  Hudson  Taylor  was  to  prove.  He  had  had  no  experience 
so  far  of  the  unsupervised  Chinese  workman,  and  the  dis- 
covery of  his  characteristics  was  discouraging.  On  August 
22  for  example,  in  spite  of  overpowering  heat,  he  got  a  few 
men  to  clear  the  place  and  remove  rubbish  enough,  as  he 
said,  "  to  have  bred  a  pestilence."  Early  next  day  he  was 
on  the  scene  again  and  discovered  his  men  absorbed  in 
watching  the  bricklayers,  never  dreaming  of  setting  to  work 
themselves.  Having  found  them  plenty  to  do,  he  went  to 
inquire  about  a  box  expected  from  Hong-kong.  Returning 
in  an  hour,  what  was  his  surprise  to  find  one  man  writing, 
another  smoking  and  the  rest  asleep.  The  third  time  he 
came  it  still  seemed  as  though  nothing  had  been  done. 

"  So  I  have  brought  over  my  desk  and  a  chair,"  he  wrote  that 
afternoon,  "  to  remain  on  the  premises  .  .  .  and  even  so  they  per- 
petually relapse  into  idleness.  I  say,  for  instance,  '  Now  this  must  be 
thoroughly  washed.'  For  a  while  there  is  a  noise  of  splashing,  but 
soon  all  is  still.  I  go  to  see  .  .  .  and  the  man  looks  quite  astonished 
when  I  remark  that  only  the  outside  has  been  cleaned.  '  Oh,'  he 
replies,  '  you  want  within-and-without  washing.'  '  Yes,'  I  say,  '  I 
do,'  and  return  to  my  letter  for  a  few  minutes.  Amusing  though  it 
may  seem  at  first,  this  kind  of  thing  becomes  wearisome,  especially 
when  one  can  get  nothing  else." 

Though  trying  enough  in  its  way,  all  this  was  the  least 
serious  part  of  the  new  life  he  was  undertaking.  The  un- 
avoidable outlay  weighed  on  his  mind  far  more.  Furnish 
as  sparingly  as  he  might  and  live  as  frugally,  he  seemed  to 
be  spending  a  great  deal  on  himself.  At  home  he  had  been 
a  collector  for  Missions,  and  knew  what  it  was  to  receive 
the  hardly  earned  pence  of  the  poor.  And  now,  against 
all  his  own  inclinations,  to  be  using  missionary  money  in 
ways  that  seemed  to  him  so  lavish  was  indeed  a  trial.  He 
would  not  have  felt  it  so  keenly  had  he  been  directly  engaged 
in  missionary  work,  but  when  he  could  do  nothing  but 
study  it  was  almost  more  than  he  could  bear. 


232  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  To  save  the  expense  of  a  sedan/'  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "  I  have 
tried  staying  indoors  altogether  during  the  great  heat,  or  walking  out 
only  in  the  evening  ;  but  several  attacks  of  illness  as  well  as  threaten- 
ings  of  ague  have  warned  me  to  desist.  .  .  .  No  one,  I  am  sure,  can  be 
more  anxious  to  avoid  expense  than  I  am  ;  but  if  we  are  to  live  here 
at  all  we  must  accommodate  ourselves  to  circumstances.  .  .  . 

"  These  things  sometimes  make  me  cry  with  David,  '  My  flesh  and 
my  heart  faileth.'  But  that  is  not  his  last  word  ;  and  by  grace  I  too 
can  add, '  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart  and  my  portion  for  ever.' 
Though  often  cast  down  ...  I  am  where  I  would  be  and  as  I  would 
be — save  for  more  likeness  to  Christ  and  more  familiarity  with  the 
language." 

Still  more  serious  than  the  question  of  expense,  however, 
was  the  danger  involved  in  his  intended  move.  Not  only 
was  he  leaving  the  Settlement,  to  live  entirely  alone  among 
the  Chinese,  he  was  going  to  a  house  very  near  Imperial 
camps  and  within  range  of  the  guns  of  both  parties.  It  was 
a  position  as  he  well  knew  of  considerable  danger,  but  no 
other  residence  had  been  procurable  and  the  time  had  come 
when  something  must  be  done. 

"  The  Chinese  house  to  which  I  am  removing,"  he  wrote  to  a 
friend,  "is  in  a  dangerous  position,  being  beyond  the  protection  of 
the  Settlement  and  liable  to  injury  from  both  Imperialists  and  Rebels. 
The  former  have  threatened  to  bum  the  street,  and  the  latter  have 
two  cannon  constantly  pointing  at  it.  My  teacher  who  comes  from 
a  distance  dare  not  go  there,  and  as  I  cannot  get  another  who  speaks 
Mandarin  at  present  I  shall  have  to  commence  the  study  of  the  Shanghai 
dialect.  ...  As  I  can  talk  with  my  present  teacher  tolerably  well,  it 
is  a  trial  to  lose  him  and  commence  again  from  the  beginning.  But 
as  there  is  no  hope  of  being  able  to  go  to  Mandarin-speaking  districts 
for  several  years,  and  the  Shanghai  dialect  I  can  use  as  I  learn  it,  this 
too  no  doubt  is  wisely  ordered.  At  any  rate  I  am  thankful  that  my 
way  is  hedged  up  on  every  side,  so  that  no  choice  is  left  me.  I  am 
obliged  to  go  forward.  .  .  .  And  if  you  hear  of  my  being  killed  or 
injured,  do  not  think  it  a  pity  that  I  came,  but  thank  God  I  was 
permitted  to  distribute  some  Scriptures  and  tracts  and  to  speak  a  few 
words  in  broken  Chinese  for  Him  who  died  for  me." 

In  this  spirit,  then,  Hudson  Taylor  bade  farewell  to  the 
kind  host  who  for  six  months  had  afforded  him  a  home,  and 
on  August  30,  near  the  North  Gate  of  the  native  city,  set 
up  housekeeping  on  his  own  account.     In  spite  of  trouble. 


I 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  233 

expense,  loneliness  and  danger,  it  was  good  to  feel  that  he 
could  begin  a  little  work  on  his  own  account.  And  the 
Lord  who  knew  the  heart  of  His  servant,  responded  to  his 
longings  after  usefulness  and  blessing,  meeting  him  at  the 
outset  of  this  new  pathway  with  rich  compensations  of  His 
grace.  In  the  solitude  that  was  now  his  lot,  the  soul  began 
to  revive  again  and  grow.  The  blessing  of  the  far-away 
days  at  Drainside  seemed  to  come  back.  He  lived  his  own 
life  as  then,  the  simple  self-denying  life  that  made  brighter 
spiritual  experience  possible. 

It  was  now  September,  almost  a  year  from  the  time  he 
had  left  home,  and  his  joy  in  being  able  to  do  something 
for  the  people  round  him  was  very  great.  His  new  teacher, 
happily,  was  an  earnest  Christian,  and  able  to  conduct 
morning  and  evening  worship  to  which  all  who  came  were 
made  welcome.  After  this  there  were  patients  to  see, 
visitors  to  entertain  and  housekeeping  to  attend  to,  in  all 
of  which  Mr.  Si  was  indispensable.  But  his  pupil  was 
rapidly  learning  useful  terms  and  polite  phrases,  as  well  as 
carefully  chosen  sentences  in  which  to  convey  the  Gospel. 
On  Sundays  they  went  out  together  to  distribute  tracts  and 
preach  in  the  crowded  streets.  The  dispensary  was  making 
many  friends,  and  when  a  day-school  was  added  both  for 
boys  and  girls  they  had  no  lack  of  occupation.  Before 
long.  Si  had  to  give  all  his  time  to  these  operations,  and 
another  teacher  was  engaged  for  the  language.  And  then, 
with  everything  in  working  order  and  his  heart  full  of  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord,  Hudson  Taylor  began  to  taste  some 
of  the  real  joys  of  missionary  life. 

To  this  period  belongs  a  letter  to  his  parents  which  shews 
the  cheerful,  natural  spirit  in  which  he  was  working. 

North  Gate,  Shanghai, 
September  20,  1854. 

My  dear  Father  and  Mother — Whether  you  weary  of  my 
letters  or  not,  I  cannot  but  write  them,  .  .  .  and  I  will  take  it  for 
granted  that  this  one  at  any  rate  will  be  welcome,  as  it  is  to  inform 
you  that  the  experiment  made  in  coming  to  this  house  has  been  so 
far  successful,  and  that  now  though  not  doing  much  I  am  at  any  rate 
doing  something.     I  am  glad  also  to  say  that  I  get  on  with  the  Shanghai 


234  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

dialect  much  better  than  I  at  first  expected.^  .  .  .  The  only  thing 
that  has  really  troubled  me  has  been  the  outlay  I  have  had  to  make 
and  that  my  current  expenses  are  so  great.  But  this  is  unavoidable. 
On  first  coming  here  I  was  disposed  to  economise  at  the  risk  of  useful- 
ness and  health,  but  I  see  now  that  one  cannot  do  this  with  impunity  ; 
and  as  1  have  no  desire  to  be  sent  home  useless  within  two  or  three 
years,  with  considerable  doubt  as  to  my  ever  being  able  to  return, 
I  have  been  led  to  consider  that  proper  care  on  these  points  is  in  the 
long  run  the  truest  economy. 

The  Chinese  house  I  am  occupying  is  as  good  as  can  be  obtained, 
and  though  the  neighbourhood  is  undesirable  one  gets  accustomed  to 
it.  If  I  feel  lonely  or  timid  at  night,  I  recall  some  sweet  promises  of 
Divine  protection,  turning  them  into  prayer,  and  invariably  find  that 
they  compose  my  mind  and  keep  it  in  peace.  I  do  not  neglect  any 
precaution  for  safety ;  but  keep  a  light  burning  all  night  and  have 
my  swimming  belt  blown  up,  so  that  at  a  moment's  notice  I  could 
take  to  the  water  if  necessary — the  planks  forming  the  bridge  between 
me  and  the  Settlement  being  removed  at  dark.  .  .  . 

And  now  I  must  tell  you  what  I  am  doing.  First  then,  I  have 
commenced  a  day-school  with  ten  boys  and  five  girls.  Three  more 
boys  are  promised  and  will  be  coming  shortly.  The  teacher.  Si,  is  a 
Christian  and  very  useful,  as  he  preaches  well  in  the  local  dialect. 
The  school  opens  and  closes  with  a  Scripture  lesson  and  prayer.  At 
present  I  cannot  do  much  with  the  children,  but  every  day  increases 
my  power  to  make  myself  understood.  As  I  sit  in  my  study  and  hear 
their  voices  chanting  over  their  lessons,  it  fills  me  with  thankfulness 
I  cannot  begin  to  express.  ...  I  often  wish  Amelia  were  here  to  take 
charge  of  the  girls  and  gather  in  others.  There  are  plenty  to  be 
found  who  are  by  no  means  improved  by  being  at  liberty  in  this 
neighbourhood,  young  as  they  are,  for  it  is  a  bad  one.  On  this  account, 
if  I  have  to  go  out  after  dark,  I  always  take  a  servant  and  lantern. 

Secondly,  the  dispensary.  I  have  not  laid  myself  out  for  medical 
work,  but  every  day  brings  some  patients.  To-day  for  example, 
being  wet,  only  ten  have  come.  I  am  gradually  learning  Chinese 
terms  for  ordinary  diseases,  symptoms,  etc.,  and  the  expressions 
needed  in  questioning  patients  and  telling  them  how  to  take  our 
medicines  ;  and  I  find  that  though  the  amount  of  work  I  get  through 
may  seem  small,  the  labour  attending  it  is  considerable. 

Thirdly,  our  services.  From  the  very  first  day  in  this  house,  I 
have  had  family  prayers  night  and  morning.  At  these  times  the 
servants,  teachers,  Si's  family  and  any  others  who  like  to  come  in  are 

^  "  The  idea  of  commencing  a  new  dialect,"  he  had  written  a  month 
before  (August  i8),  "  is  rather  overwhelming,  one  being  a  tolerable  dose  ! 
But  if  you  mean  to  learn  Chinese,  you  must  not  say,  '  Can  I  do  it  ? '  but  '  I 
can  and  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God.'  " 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  235 

present.  We  have  had  as  many  as  twenty.  To-day  we  had  nine  in 
the  morning  and  ten  at  night.  Those  who  can  read  do  so,  verse  about, 
and  yesterday  (the  anniversary  of  my  saiHng  from  Liverpool)  I  com- 
menced joining  them.  Of  course  I  make  blunders,  and  so  do  one  or 
two  others,  but  the  teachers  are  there  to  correct,  and  by  and  by  I 
shall  do  better.  On  several  occasions  also,  Si  has  accompanied  me 
into  the  city  to  distribute  tracts  and  Scriptures.  At  these  times, 
when  we  have  gathered  a  few  people  together,  Si  has  read  a  portion 
and  explained  it  in  a  way  that  all  could  understand,  ...  so  you  see 
he  is  very  useful. 

All  these  engagements  take  time,  and  with  Chinese  study  occupy 
most  of  the  day.  I  also  find  it  necessary  to  do  some  reading  in 
medicine,  surgery  or  materia  medica  every  day  .  .  .  and  what  with 
domestic  matters  and  keeping  a  careful  watch  over  everybody  and 
everything,  I  can  assure  you  I  do  not  spend  much  time  in  bed — as  I 
never  go  till  I  can  keep  awake  no  longer. 

The  other  day  I  had  an  interesting  excursion  to  Woo-sung  with 
Mr.  Edkins  and  a  young  American  missionary  named  Quaterman. 
We  went  by  boat  .  .  .  arriving  there  at  noon,  with  a  large  supply  of 
Scriptures  and  tracts.  These  we  distributed  on  many  junks  going 
northward,  receiving  promises  from  not  a  few  captains  and  others 
that  they  would  read  them  and  pass  them  on  to  friends  in  the  ports 
to  which  they  were  travelling. 

Returning  home  in  the  evening  well  pleased  with  our  excursion, 
we  were  puzzled  to  know  how  we  should  pass  the  Imperial  fleet  in 
safety.  They  are  somewhat  random  with  their  fire  after  dark,  and 
might  easily  have  taken  us  for  natives  if  not  Rebel  spies.  Mr.  Edkins 
came  to  the  rescue,  proposing  that  we  should  sing  as  we  passed  them, 
that  they  might  know  we  were  foreigners.  The  suggestion  seemed 
good  and  the  boatmen  were  pleased  with  the  idea,  the  only  objection 
being  that  as  we  had  already  been  singing  a  good  deal  we  had  ex- 
hausted all  the  hymns  and  tunes  we  had  in  common  and  were  more 
than  ready  for  a  rest. 

Having  perfected  our  arrangements,  we  approached  some  ships 
we  took  to  be  the  fleet,  and  passed  them  singing  lustily.  But  just 
as  we  were  about  to  congratulate  one  another  on  our  success,  the 
boatmen  shouted  to  us  to  recommence,  as  we  had  been  mistaken  in 
what  we  supposed  to  have  been  the  fleet  and  were  just  coming  within 
range  of  their  guns. 

So  we  had  to  tune  up  again  without  delay,  and  sang  "  The  spacious 
firmament  on  high,"  to  that  beautiful  tune  Creation.  Unfortunately 
we  concluded  just  opposite  the  largest  ship  of  the  fleet.  It  was  now 
quite  dusk. 

"  What  next  ?  "  cried  Mr.  Edkins,  as  the  alarm-gong  struck  on 
board  the  ship,  "  there  is  not  a  moment  to  lose." 


236  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

He  then  commenced  singing  I  know  not  what.  Quaterman 
struck  up  a  truly  American  tune  to  "  Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow  !  " 
while  I  at  the  same  moment  raised  a  third  with  all  the  voice  I  could 
command.  The  men  on  the  warship  were  shouting  loudly,  our  boat's 
crew  outdoing  them  if  possible,  and  the  whole  thing  was  so  ludicrous 
that  I  could  control  myself  no  longer  and  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter 
most  inappropriate  to  the  occasion. 

"  Who  goes  there  ?  "  was  shouted  from  the  Imperial  ship. 

"  Peh-kuei  "  (white  devils),  yelled  our  men,  while  we  cried  simul- 
taneously, "  Ta  Ing-kueh  "  (Great  English  Nation)  and  "  Hua-chu- 
kueh"  which  means  Flowery  Flag  Country,  or  America. 

After  a  little  further  explanation  we  were  allowed  to  pass,  upon 
which  my  companions  began  to  lecture  the  boatmen  for  having  called 
us  "  White  Devils."  The  poor  men  who  had  not  yet  received  their 
day's  pay  were  very  penitent,  and  explained  that  they  had  been  so 
frightened  that  they  really  did  not  know  what  they  were  saying  and 
would  be  most  careful  to  refrain  from  such  expressions  in  future. 
As  soon  as  we  landed  I  set  off  for  home,  and  found  them  just  going  to 
draw  the  last  plank  across  the  creek.  Happily  I  got  over  in  time, 
for  I  was  fearfully  hungry  and  tired. 

My  eyes,  the  lamp  and  paper  alike  inform  me  that  I  must  be  draw- 
ing to  a  close.  But  I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you  that  the  other  day 
a  Sung-kiang  man  presented  me  with  a  couple  of  valuable  crickets  in 
a  glass  box.  They  require  two  freshly  boiled  grains  of  rice  daily,  and 
are  kept  on  account  of  their  song,  which  is  quite  different  from  the 
sound  made  by  English  crickets,  and  ver}^  pleasant. 

And  now  Good-night,  or  rather  Good-morning. — Ever  my  dear 
Parents,  your  affectionate  son, 

J.  Hudson  Taylor. 

Mingled  with  joy  in  his  new  work,  however,  came  unex- 
pected trials,  great  and  small  —  difhculties  of  household 
management,  quarrels  between  his  servants  and  the  neigh- 
bours, anxiety  about  his  cook  who  was  laid  up  with  typhus 
fever,  disappointment  with  the  second  teacher  who  had 
to  be  dismissed,  great  discouragement  about  the  language, 
and  repeated  attacks  of  illness  that  left  him  low-spirited 
and  unfit  to  bear  the  strain  of  constant  skirmishing  so  close 
at  hand. 

"  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  fighting  for  several  days,"  he 
wrote  in  the  middle  of  September,  "  and  the  Rebels  have  been  gather- 
ing at  the  bottom  of  this  street.  Of  them  I  have  little  fear,  but  I  hope 
there  may  be  no  counter-move  on  the  part  of  the  Imperialists.  .  .  . 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  237 

Several  cannon-balls  have  passed  so  near  these  premises  as  to  make 
me  feel  some  t^^epidation  for  the  moment.  It  is  easy  to  tell  whether 
a  gun  is  loaded  or  not,  as  the  ball  makes  a  whizz  which  once  heard  is 
not  hkely  to  be  forgotten." 

He  was  in  real  sorrow  too  over  the  illness  of  Mrs.  Burdon, 
who  had  suffered  a  great  deal  since  the  birth  of  her  little 
daughter  three  months  before.  Her  husband  was  worn  out 
with  anxiety  and  nursing,  and  for  them  both  Hudson  Taylor 
felt  deeply  concerned.  Mrs.  Burdon  had  been  his  chief 
counsellor  in  beginning  housekeeping.  The  very  last  time 
she  went  out  she  had  helped  him  with  necessary  purchases, 
full  of  interest  in  all  that  concerned  his  moving  to  the  North 
Gate.  And  now  it  seemed  that  she  could  not  recover.  Her 
love  for  those  she  was  leaving  and  perfect  submission  to 
the  will  of  God  touched  him  unspeakably  ;  and  as  often  as 
possible  he  went  over  to  relieve  Mr.  Burdon,  entering  with 
a  brother's  sympathy  into  the  anguish  through  which  he 
was  passing. 

Beside  all  this,  he  was  increasingly  burdened  about  money 
matters,  not  knowing  even  yet  how  the  Society  would  respond 
to  his  letters.  Obliged  to  exceed  his  salary  for  the  necessaries 
of  life,  he  had  made  use  of  a  Letter  of  Credit  provided 
against  emergencies,  but  was  still  uncertain  as  to  how  far 
his  bills  would  be  honoured.  It  was  a  painful  position,  and 
one  that  cost  him  many  a  wakeful  night  as  well  as  many  a 
prayer. 

Thus  September  ended,  and  looking  back  upon  it  he 
could  say  : 

Though  in  some  ways  I  never  passed  a  more  anxious  month  in  my 
life,  I  have  never  felt  before  so  conscious  of  God's  presence  with  me. 
I  begin  to  enjoy  the  sweet,  peaceful  rest  in  the  Lord  and  in  His  promises 
experienced  first  in  Hull.  That  was  the  brightest  part  of  my  spiritual 
life,  and  how  poor  at  the  best !  Since  then  I  have  been  in  a  declining 
state,  but  the  Lord  has  brought  me  back  ;  and  as  there  is  no  standing 
still  in  these  things,  I  trust  to  go  on  to  apprehend  heights  and  depths, 
lengths  and  breadths  of  love  divine  far  exceeding  anything  I  have 
yet  entered  into.     May  God  grant  it,  for  Jesus'  sake. 

One  cannot  but  be  impressed  in  reading  the  letters  of 
this  period  with  the  sacred  ambition  of  Hudson  Taylor's 


238  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

prayers  ;  a  subject  worth  pondering,  if  it  be  true  that  prayer 
moulds  the  Hfe  and  not  circumstances,  and  that  as  are 
our  deepest  desires  before  God  so  will  the  trend  of  our  out- 
ward experiences  be.  Certainly  nothing  is  more  significant 
in  the  life  before  us  than  the  longing  for  usefulness  and  like- 
ness to  the  Lord  he  loved.  Not  honour  or  success,  but 
usefulness,  "  widespread  usefulness,"  was  his  constant 
prayer.  Would  he  have  drawn  back  could  he  have  foreseen 
that  the  only  way  to  its  fulfilment  was  through  the  furnace 
seven  times  heated  ? 

For  much  preparatory  work  had  yet  to  be  done.  His 
prayers  were  indeed  to  be  answered  beyond  anything  he 
asked  or  thought ;  but  he  must  pray  with  yet  fuller  meaning, 
and  go  through  with  all  the  training  needed  at  the  Master's 
hands.  The  iron  must  be  tempered  to  steel,  and  his  heart 
made  stronger  and  more  tender  than  others,  through  having 
loved  and  suffered  more,  with  God.  He  was  pioneering  a 
way  in  China,  little  as  he  or  any  one  else  could  imagine  it,  for 
hundreds  who  were  to  follow.  Every  burden  must  be  his, 
every  trial  known  as  only  experience  can  teach  it.  He  who 
was  to  be  used  of  God  to  dry  so  many  tears,  must  himself 
weep.  He  who  was  to  encourage  thousands  in  a  life  of 
child-like  trust,  must  learn  in  his  own  case  deep  lessons  of 
a  Father's  loving  care.  So  difficulties  were  permitted  to 
gather  about  him,  especially  at  first  when  every  impression 
was  vivid  and  lasting,  difficulties  attended  by  many  a 
deliverance  to  cheer  him  on  his  way. 

As  much  of  his  usefulness  later  on  was  to  consist  in  helping 
and  providing  for  young  missionaries,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  a  large  part  of  his  preparation  at  this  time  had  to  do 
with  financial  matters  and  the  unintentional  mismanagement 
of  the  home  Committee.  He  had  to  learn  how  to  do  and 
how  not  to  do  for  those  who  on  the  human  side  would  be 
dependent  on  him  ;  a  lesson  of  vital  importance,  lying  at  the 
very  foundation  of  his  future  work.  Hence  all  this  trial 
about  a  small,  settled  income  and  large  uncertain  needs  ; 
about  irregularity  of  mails  and  long-unanswered  letters  ; 
about  rapidly-changing  opportunities  of  service  on  the  field, 
and  the  slow-moving  ideas  and  inaccessibihty  of  Committees 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  239 

at  home.  He  did  his  best,  and  the  inexperienced  Secretaries 
in  London  did  their  best  also,  as  faithful  men  of  God.  But 
something,  somehow,  was  wanting  ;  and  just  what  it  was 
Hudson  Taylor  had  to  discover,  and  later  on  to  remedy. 
Seen  in  this  light  it  need  hardly  be  said  a  special  significance 
attaches  to  his  financial  cares ;  and  the  letters  in  which  he 
tells  at  times  so  touchingly  of  the  exercise  of  mind  through 
which  he  was  passing  have  an  interest  all  their  own.  The 
iron — one  sees  it — was  entering  into  his  very  soul ;  but  from 
this  long  endurance  was  to  spring  heart's-ease  for  many 
another. 

At  the  risk  of  some  repetition,  the  following  letter  is  quoted 
for  its  value  in  this  connection,  and  as  showing  how  keenly 
he  continued  to  feel  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was 
placed  : 

North  Gate,  Shanghai, 
October  17,  1854. 

My  dear  Parents — You  wish  to  know  all  about  my  pecuniary  as 
well  as  other  affairs,  so  I  am  enclosing  a  copy  of  a  list  of  expenses  I 
am  just  forwarding  to  Mr.  Pearse.  As  you  will  perceive,  they  so 
largely  exceed  the  sum  we  were  led  to  suppose  would  be  sufficient 
(£2)0  per  annum)  that  I  am  sending  full  details,  so  that  the  Secretaries 
can  see  for  themselves.  I  shall  have  to  draw  again  this  year,  probably 
next  month.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  get  credit,  for  my  authorisa- 
tion from  the  Society  does  not  exceed  forty  pounds  a  quarter,  and  if 
the  agents  here  knew  that  I  had  just  received  a  copy  of  the  Committee's 
Resolution  stating  that  they  will  not  accept  bills  for  more  than  that 
amount,  of  course  it  would  be  refused. 

You  will  not  wonder  that  anxiety  about  expenses  and  as  to  whether 
my  bills  will  be  honoured  or  not,  added  to  the  dangers  of  my  present 
position,  has  proved  rather  much  for  me  lately.  ...  I  have  been 
very  poorly  for  a  fortnight  .  .  .  but  am  better  now,  though  dis- 
tressingly weak  as  yet.  My  cook  has  been  ill  with  typhus  fever 
for  three  weeks  or  more.  I  hope  he  is  improving.  He  was  better  some 
days  ago,  but  threw  himself  back  by  going  contrary  to  explicit  orders. 

You  will  wonder  what  all  those  "  discounts  "  in  my  list  of  expenses 
mean.  They  were  paid  on  the  Ferdinand  dollars  with  which  I  was 
supplied  in  England,  and  that  are  not  in  regular  circulation  here. 
Chair-coolies,  another  item,  are  indispensable  in  the  hottest  weather. 
Their  services  were  mostly  required  in  seeking  a  house,  and  running 
to  and  fro  from  Dr.  Lockhart's  before  I  could  get  one.  The  water- 
jars  are  for  drinking-water,  which  has  to  be  fetched  from  the  river 
and  being  very  muddy  has  to  settle  ^nd  have  the  organic  matter 


240  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

precipitated  by  alum  before  it  is  fit  for  use.  Of  chairs  I  have  only 
six,  the  cheapest  usable  ones  I  could  get.  The  tables  are  second- 
hand. New,  they  would  have  cost  much  more.  Crockery  is  the 
dearest  item.  The  whole  lot  in  England  would  hardly  fetch  ten 
shillings,  for  they  are  of  many  different  patterns.  The  cups  and 
saucers  do  not  match,  nor  do  the  dishes  and  plates,  while  the  vegetable 
dishes  are  again  dissimilar.  I  had  to  take  what  I  could  get,  and  was 
thankful  they  were  odd,  for  no  one  would  have  broken  into  a  set.  .  .  . 
As  to  fuel,  how  would  you  like  to  be  paying  six  and  sixpence  a  week 
for  barely  enough  for  the  simplest  cooking,  the  fire  being  put  out  as 
soon  as  done  with,  and  have  the  prospect  of  the  thermometer  going 
down  to  15°  F.  within  two  months  ? 

Everything  is  dear  in  Shanghai  now,  Chinese  as  well  as  foreign 
goods.  Just  to  think  that  in  seven  months  I  have  spent  more  than 
a  hundred  pounds  !  Is  it  not  frightful .''  Two  hundred  pounds  per 
annum  will  barely  cover  my  expenses,  unless  the  exchange  falls,  and 
other  things  too.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  allows  single  men 
seven  hundred  dollars  (about  £210  at  the  present  rate  of  exchange) 
beside  paying  rent,  medical  expenses,  and  a  sum  sufficient  for  Chinese 
teacher  and  books.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  Oct.  21.  It  is  very  cold  to-day.  I  am  better  than  I 
was  earlier  in  the  week,  but  still  far  from  well.  .  .  .  Fortunately  I 
have  been  able  to  buy  a  second-hand  stove  for  ten  dollars  that  will 
burn  wood.  A  new  one  would  have  cost  thirty.  And  now  having 
had  another  month's  expenses  to  settle,  I  have  only  twelve  dollars 
left.  What  can  I  do  ?  I  must  draw  soon.  And  even  if  I  can  get  a 
bill  accepted  here,  I  am  in  terror  of  its  being  refused  by  the  Committee, 
which  would  put  me  in  a  pretty  fix.  I  think  and  study  night  and 
day,  and  cannot  tell  what  to  do. 

Last  Wednesday  night,  a  fire  that  seemed  very  near  awoke  me  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Dressing  hastily,  I  climbed  on  to  the 
roof  to  ascertain  if  it  were  coming  this  way.  Chinese  houses  like  these, 
built  only  of  wood,  burn  very  quickly  on  a  windy  night.  It  was  an 
anxious  moment,  for  in  the  darkness  I  fancied  the  burning  building 
was  only  four  or  five  doors  away.  Just  then,  as  I  was  praying  earnestly 
for  protection,  it  began  to  rain.  The  wind  fell,  for  which  I  was  most 
thankful,  and  gradually  the  fire  smouldered  down.  But  it  was  after 
five  before  I  dared  go  to  bed  again. 

While  there  on  the  roof,  several  bullets  struck  the  buildings  round 
me,  and  two  or  three  seemed  to  fall  on  the  tiles  of  my  own  house.  At 
last  a  heavy  ball  struck  the  ridge  of  the  opposite  roof,  carrying  away 
a  lot  of  tiles,  the  fragments  of  which  fell  around  me,  and  itself  flew  off 
obliquely.  You  may  be  sure  I  did  not  wait  up  there  for  another.  .  .  . 
The  day  before  a  ball  of  that  size,  evidently  spent,  struck  the  roof  of 
this  house,  broke  some  tiles,  and  fell  at  the  feet  of  my  teacher's  child 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  241 

who  was  standing  in  a  doorway.     Had  he  been  half  a  yard  further 
out,  it  must  have  killed  him.    That  was  at  noon. 

I  have  never  passed,  as  you  will  well  believe,  such  a  trying  time  in 
my  life.  But  it  is  all  necessary,  and  I  feel  is  being  made  a  blessing  to 
me.  I  may  have  to  leave  here  suddenly.  .  .  .  But  whatever  happens, 
I  do  not  regret  coming  to  this  house,  and  would  do  it  again  under 
similar  circumstances.  Our  Society  must  provide  better,  however, 
for  its  missionaries.     This  sort  of  thing  will  not  do. 

I  must  now  conclude,  trusting  that  the  Lord,  who  is  precious  to 
me  in  my  extremity,  is  proving  Himself  near  also  to  you. — With 
love  .  .  .  believe  me,  your  ever  affectionate  son, 

J.  Hudson  Taylor. 

That  Resolution  of  the  Committee  not  to  honour  bills 
exceeding  forty  pounds  a  quarter  caused  more  pain  and 
perplexity  to  their  solitary  representative  in  Shanghai  than 
they  could  at  all  realise.^  Crisp,  sharp  autumn  weather 
had  now  set  in,  forecasting  the  bitter  cold  of  winter.  His 
Chinese  house  was  not  only  unwarmed  but  unwarmable, 
draughts  sweeping  through  it  mercilessly,  from  unnumbered 
cracks  and  crevices.  His  blankets,  only  two  in  number, 
were  fit  for  nothing  but  summer  use,  and  all  the  clothing  he 
had  brought  from  home  was  now  so  shabby  that  he  was 
ashamed  to  be  seen  amongst  other  foreigners.  Yet  he  had 
far  exceeded  his  allowance,  and  dared  not  spend  a  penny 
save  for  actual  necessaries.  And  to  add  to  his  perplexity 
he  was  driven  to  see  that  the  house  he  had  secured  with  so 
much  difficulty  in  view  of  the  arrival  of  the  Parkers  would 
not  be  a  place  they  could  come  to  even  for  a  night. 

^  Based  as  it  was  upon  his  own  correspondence,  it  was  little  wonder  that 
this  Resolution  produced  a  painful  impression  on  his  mind.  It  hurt  like  a 
wound  inflicted  by  one  from  whom  he  had  expected  sympathy.  In  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Pearse  of  November  2,  he  expressed  himself  as  follows  : 

"  And  lastly,  in  reference  to  the  Resolution  of  June  29,  1854  :  your 
Board  ought  to  be  very  careful  how  they  bind  their  Secretaries  to  such  a 
course  in  present  times.  Your  missionaries  are  sent  into  a  country  in  a 
state  of  revolution,  where  it  is  literally  true  that  they  know  not  what  a 
day  or  an  hour  may  bring  forth.  They  should  be  well  provided  against 
contingencies  before  you  adopt  such  an  ultra  measure,  a  measure  that 
would  at  once  and  forever  destroy  their  credit,  if  they  have  any,  and 
compared  with  which  their  dismissal  by  the  Society  would  not  be  severe. 
At  any  rate,  if  not  accepted,  such  bills  should  not  be  positively  refused 
before  you  hear  the  reasons  which  led  to  their  being  drawn.  But  more  I 
need  not  say.  Your  hearts  are  in  the  work  as  well  as  ours,  and  I  know  you 
will  excuse  these  remarks  when  you  remember  that  half  the  world  lies 
between  us." 


242  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  As  to  my  position,"  he  wrote  on  October  2,  "it  certainly  is  one 
of  great  peril.  On  two  successive  nights,  recently,  bullets  have  struck 
the  roof  over  my  head.  How  little  difference  in  the  direction  of  the 
gun  might  have  rendered  them  fatal  to  me.  But  '  as  the  mountains 
are  round  about  Jerusalem  '  so  the  Lord  is  on  every  side  to  protect 
and  support  me  and  to  supply  all  my  need,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual. 
I  can  truly  say  my  trust  is  in  Him.  When  I  hear  guns  fired  near  me 
and  the  whizz  of  the  balls  as  they  pass  the  house,  I  do  feel  alarmed 
sometimes  ;  but  a  sweet,  still  voice  says  inwardly,  '  Oh  thou  of  little 
faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  ?  '  Awakened  suddenly  in  the 
darkness  by  the  thundering  report  of  guns  from  the  North  Gate  which 
shake  the  house,  and  hearing  gongs  sounding  and  firearms  discharging 
close  at  hand  I  have  felt  lonely,  and  my  heart  has  palpitated  painfully 
at  times,  not  knowing  whether  my  own  house  might  not  be  the  object 
of  attack.  But '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,'  has  quieted  the  troubled 
waters  and  restored  peace  to  my  soul.  One  night  I  was  roused  from 
sleep  by  a  strong  smell  of  burning,  and  finding  the  rooms  full  of  smoke 
was  not  a  little  alarmed,  for  I  knew  the  Imperialists  had  threatened 
to  burn  all  the  suburbs  as  far  as  the  creek.  But  it  was  only  stubble 
burning  in  a  field  near  by,  and  the  windows  being  open  the  smoke  had 
drifted  in.  Thoroughly  ashamed  of  my  fears  I  returned  to  rest  with 
a  very  sweet  sense  of  the  presence  of  my  Protector,  the  '  Watchman 
of  Israel.'  " 

Three  weeks  later  matters  were  even  worse,  and  he  wrote 
again  to  the  Secretaries  : 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  firing  going  on  here  now,  so  much  so  that 
...  I  am  seldom  able  to  get  half  a  night's  sleep.  What  Dr.  Parker 
and  his  family  are  to  do,  I  do  not  know.  Their  coming  here  as  things 
are  now  is  out  of  the  question.  This  constant  anxiety  for  them  as 
well  as  myself,  together  with  another  still  more  trying  (the  expense 
I  am  unable  to  avoid)  is  by  no  means  a  desirable  addition  to  the 
difficulties  of  language  and  climate.  .  .  . 

We  have  heard  nothing  of  the  Swi/tsure,  but  she  is  hardly  due  as 
yet.  I  shall  be  thankful  when  Dr.  Parker  is  here  and  we  are  able  to 
consult  together  about  the  future.  You  will  find  this  a  much  more 
expensive  Mission,  I  fear,  than  was  anticipated.  ...  I  shall  have 
to  draw  again  this  month,  and  with  all  possible  economy  cannot  alter 
the  high  rate  of  prices.  The  total  expense  of  my  first  year  will  be 
little  under  two  hundred  pounds,  and  even  so  I  feel  confident  that 
there  is  no  other  missionary  in  Shanghai  who  will  not  have  cost  con- 
siderably more.  .  .  . 

Pray  for  me,  for  I  am  almost  pressed  beyond  measure,  and  were 


I 


BUILDING  IN  TROUBLOUS  TIMES  243 

it  not  that  I  find  the  Word  of  God  increasingly  precious  and  feel  His 
presence  with  me  I  do  not  know  what  I  should  do. 

But  the  Lord  knew,  and  He  had  not  forgotten  His  tried 
servant.  At  that  very  moment,  when  the  Swiftsure  was 
nearing  the  end  of  her  long  and  perilous  voyage,  the  Lord 
had  a  home  in  view  into  which  to  receive  the  Parkers  and 
their  children.  He  was  not  shut  up  to  the  house  on  the 
North  Gate  Street,  though  Hudson  Taylor  was  ;  and  just  in 
time,  when  lessons  had  been  learned  that  He  saw  to  be 
needed,  the  way  was  opened  to  a  safer  residence. 

On  the  London  Mission  Compound,  through  the  coming 
of  a  great  sorrow,  a  little  house  stood  empty  that  in  com- 
parison with  Hudson  Taylor's  quarters  offered  a  haven  of 
security  and  peace.  Shadowed  as  it  was  with  the  suffering 
of  his  dearest  friends  in  China,  he  had  not  thought  of  it  as 
other  than  their  home.  There  he  had  found  them  in  their 
early  married  life,  rejoiced  with  them  in  the  gift  of  a  precious 
child,  and  shared  the  bereavement  that  in  so  short  a  time 
left  her  motherless.  Then  he  had  helped  Mr.  Burdon  to 
leave  the  home  from  which  the  Hght  had  fled,  and  take  his 
infant  daughter  to  the  care  of  the  Chaplain's  household. 
And  still  the  little  house  at  Ma-ka-k'iien  stood  empty. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A   WAY   OF   ESCAPE 

November-December  1854.    Aet.  22. 

It  is  put  before  us  as  an  evidence  of  the  faithfulness  of  God 
that  for  those  who  trust  Him  He  always  has  "  a  way  of 
escape,"  that  no  trial  may  be  greater  than  they  can  bear. 
Strong  consolation  this  for  the  troubled  soul !  And  Hudson 
Taylor  was  to  make  full  proof  of  it  now  in  his  extremity. 

For  extremity  it  really  was,  just  after  the  foregoing  letter 
had  been  written.  WTiere  to  go  and  what  to  do  he  knew 
not,  and  the  Parkers  were  drawing  nearer  every  day.  With- 
out authorisation  from  the  Committee  or  instructions  from 
Dr.  Parker  himself,  how  could  he  venture  upon  the  expense  of 
Mr.  Burdon's  house  ?  And  yet  it  was  just  what  they  needed, 
and  might  be  lost  by  delay.  He  had  no  money  to  furnish, 
nor  did  he  know  where  the  rent  was  coming  from  ;  but  at 
the  end  of  October,  looking  to  the  Lord  for  help  and  guidance, 
he  obtained  at  least  the  refusal  of  the  premises. 

Meanwhile  the  situation  of  the  native  city  was  becoming 
desperate.  The  French,  in  defiance  of  international  law 
and  treaty  obligations,  were  openly  taking  part  in  the  siege. 
Their  soldiers,  "  bloodthirsty  as  tigers,"  seemed  bent  on 
slaughter,  and  the  house  at  the  North  Gate  daily  witnessed 
scenes  of  almost  fiendish  cruelty.  It  became  unendurable 
at  last.  The  premises  next  door  were  deliberately  set  on 
fire,  with  intention  to  drive  the  foreigner  out,  and  just  at 
this  juncture  another  offer  was  made  for  Mr.  Burdon's 
house.  Word  was  sent  to  Hudson  Taylor  that  if  he  wanted 
it  he  must  take  it  at  once.     And  so,  paying  the  rent  out  of 

244 


A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE  245 

his  own  meagre  resources,  a  home  was  secured  for  the  family 
so  soon  to  arrive  in  the  Settlement. 

And  then,  providentially  no  doubt,  he  was  urged  to  sub- 
let half  the  premises.  Another  missionary  was  in  distress, 
not  knowing  where  to  take  his  wife  and  children  with  safety! 
and  for  three  rooms  was  thankful  to  pay  half  the  rent! 
True  the  house  was  very  small  for  two  families,  but  it  was 
a  rehef  to  have  his  financial  obligations  lessened  and  a 
comfort  to  be  able  to  help  somebody  else.  So  with  many 
regrets  at  parting  from  his  school-children  and  neighbours, 
Hudson  Taylor  left  the  scenes  in  which  he  had  commenced 
his  first  direct  missionary  work,  and  on  Saturday,  November 
25,  returned  to  a  house  shared  with  others  on  the  familiar 
compound  of  the  London  Mission. 

Two  days  later  he  was  again  at  the  North  Gate  to  remove 
the  last  of  his  belongings,  when  he  was  recalled  by  a  message 
from  Dr.  Lockhart.  Hurrying  back  with  many  conjectures 
as  to  what  the  summons  might  mean,  he  found  the  doctor  at 
lunch  with  a  pleasant -looking  stranger— none  other  than 
his  own  long-expected  colleague  Dr.  Parker.  So  they  had 
come  at  last  !  And  he  was  only  just  in  time  with  arrange- 
ments for  their  accommodation. 

At  first  in  the  joy  of  meeting  and  all  the  excitement  of 
bringing  up  their  belongings  from  the  ship,  Hudson  Taylor 
had  hardly  time  to  reahse  how  the  narrowness  of  their 
quarters  would  strike  his  new-found  friends.  But  when 
they  were  all  in  them,  including  the  httle  baby  whose  first 
appearance  had  been  madeatsea,the  three  rooms  seemed  even 
more  crowded  than  he  had  feared  they  would  be.  Strong, 
sensible  Scotch  people,  the  Parkers  were  quite  prepared  to 
put  up  with  hardships,  and  accommodated  themselves  to 
the  situation  as  well  as  could  be  expected.  But  to  Hudson 
Taylor  it  was  a  painful  experience  to  have  to  reveal  the 
pitifulness  of  his  preparations. 

If  the  rooms  had  been  suitably  furnished  it  would  have 
been  another  matter  ;  but  his  Chinese  bed,  two  or  three 
square  tables,  and  half  a  dozen  chairs  seem  to  have  been  all 
that  he  possessed.  He  had  only  just  moved  in  on  Saturday 
night,  and  had  not  had  time  to  get  into  working  order,  and 


246  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

now  the  sudden  advent  of  a  family  with  all  their  parapher- 
nalia made  confusion  worse  confounded,  and  the  despair  of 
a  thrifty  housewife  with  three  little  children  to  provide 
for  may  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

Oh,  the  trying,  difficult  days  that  followed,  could  they 
ever  be  forgotten  !  For  to  make  matters  worse,  the  Shanghai 
community  began  to  call  upon  the  new  arrivals,  and  those 
with  whom  Hudson  Taylor  was  acquainted  were  not  sparing 
in  their  comments  upon  what  seemed  his  negligence. 

It  was  all  very  well  for  him  to  live  in  Chinese  style  if  he 
liked,  and  put  up  with  a  hundred  and  one  discomforts. 
But  people  who  knew  what  was  what  could  not  be  expected 
to  fall  in  with  such  ways.  Why  had  he  not  furnished 
their  rooms  properly,  and  provided  warm  carpets  and 
curtains  ?  Did  he  not  know  that  children  must  be  pro- 
tected from  the  bitter  cold  of  winter  ?  Had  he  no  stoves 
in  readiness,  no  proper  supply  of  fuel  ?  Had  he  not  written 
to  tell  them  that  they  would  need  warm  clothes  and  bedding 
on  their  arrival  in  November  ?  And  as  to  unpacking  and 
getting  settled,  how  could  it  be  done  without  shelves  or 
cupboards,  chests  of  drawers  or  book-cases  in  which  to 
bestow  their  belongings  ? 

All  of  which  was  true,  no  doubt,  and  unanswerable  ; 
for  how  could  the  young  missionary  let  it  be  known  that 
he  had  gone  far  beyond  the  hmits  of  authorised  expenditure 
in  taking  the  house  at  all — that  he  had  done  it  entirely  on 
his  own  responsibility,  and  that  after  paying  the  first  instal- 
ment of  rent  he  had  been  left  with  only  two  or  three  dollars 
in  hand,  not  enough  to  cover  a  week's  expenses  ? 

His  hope  was,  of  course,  that  Dr.  Parker  would  be 
supplied  with  all  that  was  necessary,  and  would  be  the 
bearer  of  instructions  from  the  Society  about  Mission- 
headquarters  in  Shanghai  or  elsewhere,  as  well  as  some 
more  satisfactory  arrangement  for  financial  transactions 
in  the  future.  The  very  reverse,  however,  was  the  case. 
Dr.  Parker  had  nothing  with  him  but  a  few  dollars  for 
immediate  use.  He  was  expecting  a  Letter  of  Credit  to 
be  awaiting  him  in  Shanghai,  understood  to  have  been 
sent  off  before  he  left  England.     As  to  suppHes,  they  had 


A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE  247 

abundance  of  clothing  for  the  Tropics,  but  had  not  been  at 
all  prepared  for  cold  weather,  so  that  the  children  were  in 
immediate  need  of  winter  outfits.  And  for  the  rest,  nothing 
had  been  said  about  how  they  were  to  live  and  work  in 
Shanghai,  or  in  what  way  their  salary  was  to  reach  them. 
All  this  they  seem  to  have  taken  for  granted  that  Hudson 
Taylor  would  be  able  to  arrange. 

No  special  anxiety  was  felt  as  yet,  however.  A  large 
mail  was  waiting  their  arrival,  and  among  the  letters  would 
doubtless  be  one  containing  the  document  on  which  so 
much  depended.  The  Secretaries  had  assured  Dr.  Parker 
while  he  was  still  in  London  that  his  Letter  of  Credit,  if 
not  already  on  its  way  to  Shanghai,  would  be  there  long 
before  his  own  arrival.  But  on  going  through  his  mail  no 
trace  of  it  appeared.  Carefully  they  read  and  reread  the 
letters,  but  although  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  he 
would  be  at  the  end  of  his  journey  when  they  reached  him, 
there  was  no  mention  whatever  of  money-matters,  or  how 
his  needs  were  to  be  supplied.  The  Letter  of  Credit  had 
evidently  been  overlooked  and  forgotten. 

Happily  another  mail  was  due  within  a  day  or  two,  and 
that  no  doubt  would  put  matters  right.  In  the  meanwhile, 
they  were  thankful  for  the  little  preparation  Hudson  Taylor 
had  been  able  to  make,  and  with  his  few  dollars  and  their 
own  laid  in  a  small  supply  of  what  was  indispensable. 

The  mail  came  in.  Yes,  there  were  letters  from  the 
Secretaries  dated  September  15,  more  than  three  months 
after  the  Parkers  had  left  London.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
enclosures  ;  but  perhaps  they  had  sent  the  Letter  of  Credit 
direct  to  their  Shanghai  Agents,  and  would  mention  having 
done  so.  No,  nothing  was  said  about  it.  There  was 
positively  no  allusion  to  the  matter.  What  could  be  the 
meaning  of  such  an  omission  ?  To  Dr,  Parker  it  seemed 
inexplicable.  But  Hudson  Taylor,  with  more  experience 
of  the  working  of  things,  was  not  altogether  surprised,  and 
foimd  it  less  easy  to  be  hopeful,  though  he  acceded  to  the  only 
suggestion  that  could  be  made,  that  they  should  go  at  once 
to  the  Agents  and  enquire.  Dr.  Parker  was  satisfied  that 
this  must  bring  a  conclusion  to  their  difficulties,  so  with 


248  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

a  light  heart  as  far  as  he  was  concerned  they  presented 
themselves  at  the  office  of  Messrs.  Gibb,  Livingston  and  Co. 
Hudson  Taylor  had  had  dealings  before  with  the  manager 
of  this  firm,  and  though  he  had  found  him  a  friend  in  need 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  it  was  not  possible  to  forget  the 
sarcasm  of  some  of  his  remarks,  nor  the  emphasis  with 
which  he  said,  "  the  management  or  rather  mismanagement 
of  your  Society  is  very  bad."  It  was  with  some  trepidation, 
therefore,  he  introduced  Dr.  Parker  and  asked  if  any  advice 
had  been  received  as  to  his  Letter  of  Credit. 

"  No,"  answered  the  manager  promptly,  "  none." 
"  Was  it  possible,"  queried  Dr.  Parker,  "  that  they  had 
heard  nothing  from  the  Society  as  to  the  amount  he  was 
entitled  to  draw  ?  " 

"  It  was  more  than  possible,"  replied  the  manager,  "  to 
judge  by  past  experiences "  ;  though  when  he  saw  how 
this  information  was  received,  he  was  inclined  to  be  more 
sympathetic. 

Painful  as  the  position  was  in  itself,  it  was  rendered 
still  more  so  by  the  necessity  they  were  under  of  explaining 
matters  to  this  comparative  stranger,  with  his  prompt, 
efficient,  business-like  ways,  upon  whom  for  the  time  being 
they  were  dependent.  If  he  had  not  seen  fit  to  advance 
them  money  upon  such  evidence  of  their  genuineness  as 
they  could  afford,  they  would  have  been  reduced  to  sore 
straights  indeed.  But  his  friendliness,  both  then  and 
after,  was  the  Lord's  way  of  answering  their  prayers,  and 
providing  for  them  in  the  absence  of  the  Letter  of  Credit 
that  for  long  months  did  not  make  its  appearance. 

Dr.  Parker  said  little  about  all  this,  but  he  must  have 
felt  it  keenly,  and  probably  all  the  more  so  as  he  came  to 
realise  the  tempting  possibilities  opened  to  him  as  a  medical 
man  in  China.  How  easily  he  could  have  supported  his 
family  in  comfort,  had  he  been  willing  to  turn  aside  from 
missionary  work.  But  in  spite  of  poverty  and  many 
privations,  prolonged  all  through  the  winter,  spring,  and 
following  summer,  he  and  Mrs.  Parker  held  on  their  way 
with  quiet  self-sacrifice  that  never  wavered. 

From  the  first  Sunday  after  landing,  he  went  out  regularly 


A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE  249 

with  Hudson  Taylor  to  evangelise  in  the  city  or  surrounding 
villages,  and  frequently  made  longer  excursions,  giving 
away  tracts  and  attending  to  simple  ailments,  while  others 
more  familiar  with  the  language  did  the  talking.  And  at 
home  in  their  crowded  quarters,  he  devoted  himself  assid- 
uously to  study.  How  difficult  it  was  in  that  small  house, 
shared  by  another  family,  no  one  who  has  not  laboured  at 
Chinese  under  similar  circumstances  can  begin  to  imagine. 
Poor  Mrs.  Parker  did  her  best  to  keep  the  children  quiet. 
But  there  were  three  of  her  own,  besides  those  of  the 
American  missionaries,  and  she  often  had  to  go  downstairs 
to  attend  to  household  affairs  or  receive  visitors.  The 
lower  apartment  being  necessarily  devoted  to  the  uses  of 
drawing-room  and  dining-room  in  one,  there  was  nowhere 
for  the  doctor  to  study,  a  difficulty  that  could  only  be  met 
by  his  sharing  Hudson  Taylor's  room  next  to  the  nursery. 
What  they  did  with  their  Chinese  pundits  does  not  appear. 
But  if  both  teachers  had  to  work  with  their  respective 
pupils  in  that  one  small  chamber,  separated  only  by  a 
partition  from  a  busy  mother  and  three  little  children, 
one  can  well  understand  Hudson  Taylor's  difficulty  in 
preserving  an  unruffled  spirit. 

"  No  one  who  has  not  experienced  it,"  he  wrote,  "  can  understand 
the  effect  of  such  incessant  strain  on  mind  and  body.^  It  makes  one 
so  nervous  and  irritable  that  we  sorely  need  your  prayers  as  well  as 
our  own  to  enable  us  at  all  times  to  manifest  a  proper  spirit. 

"  How  gracious  of  God  thus  to  keep  us  from  being  deluded  into 
supposing  that  we  are  free  from  the  evils  that  belong  to  fallen  nature, 
and  to  make  us  long  the  more  earnestly  for  the  time  when  we  shall 
see  our  blessed  Master  and  be  perfected  in  His  likeness.  Thank  the 
Lord,  there  does  remain  a  rest  for  us.  I  am  so  apt  to  grow  weary  and 
selfishly  wish  I  were  there,  instead  of  desiring  only  to  do  His  will  and 
wait  His  time  ;  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  and  finish  all  that  He 
will  give  me  to  do.  Indeed,  the  work  of  grace  seems  only  just  begun 
in  my  heart.  I  have  been  an  unfruitful  branch,  and  need  no  small 
amount  of  pruning.  May  these  present  trials  result  only  in  blessing, 
preparing  me  for  more  extensive  usefulness  here  and  a  crown  of  rejoic- 
ing hereafter." 

"  The  continued  strain  to  which  I  have  been  subjected  of  late," 

1  Though  written  at  the  North  Gate  house  just  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Parkers,  what  he  said  then  seems  even  more  appHcable  a  httle  later. 


250  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

he  wrote  in  another  letter/  "  has  caused  a  degree  of  nervous  irritabihty 
never  before  experienced,  requiring  the  greatest  watchfulness  to 
prevent  the  manifestation  of  an  unsuitable  spirit  before  those  by 
whom  I  am  surrounded.  What  a  solemn  thing  it  is  to  be  a  witness 
for  God,  sent  into  the  midst  of  heathen  darkness  to  show  forth  in  our 
lives  all  that  by  our  words  we  teach.  .  .  .  Pray  for  me  that  I  may 
have  more  grace,  humility  and  reliance  on  the  power  of  God,  that  I 
may  prove  henceforth  more  efficient,  by  His  blessing,  in  this  holy 
service." 

Somewhat  different  in  tone  though  not  less  humble  in 
spirit  vv^as  the  first  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Pearse  after  the 
arrival  of  Dr.  Parker  and  his  family.  In  addition  to  their 
OM^n  difficulties  about  which  he  had  to  write,  Hudson 
Taylor  was  suffering  from  imprudent  statements  in  The 
Gleaner  calculated  to  give  serious  offence  to  the  L.M.S. 
missionaries  in  Shanghai ;  "  men  who,"  as  he  put  it,  "  how- 
ever much  you  may  differ  from  them  in  judgment,  are 
more  thoughtful  for  the  shelter  and  support  of  your  mission- 
aries than  the  Society  that  sends  them  out  ...  if  not 
more  wishful." 

"  I  trust  you  will  not  deem  it  unkind  or  disrespectful  of  me,"  he 
continued,  "  to  write  thus.  For  though  I  feel  these  things  and  feel 
them  keenly,  were  it  not  for  the  sake  of  others  and  the  good  of  the 
Society  I  would  pass  over  them  in  silence.  To  do  this,  however,  would 
be  unfaithfulness  on  my  part.  For  not  only  is  it  morally  wrong  and 
thoughtless  in  the  extreme  to  act  as  the  Society  has  acted  towards 
Dr.  Parker,  but  you  must  surely  see  that  men  who  can  quadruple 
their  salary  by  professional  practice,  or  double  it  by  taking  a  clerk's 
berth  will  not  be  likely,  if  they  find  themselves  totally  unprovided 
for,  to  continue  in  the  service  of  the  Society.  I  do  not  make  these 
remarks  with  respect  to  Dr.  Parker,  who  seems  thoroughly  devoted 
to  the  work  and  by  his  spirit  has  encouraged  me  not  a  little.  But 
they  are  true  none  the  less.  And  I  may  add  that  a  vacant  post  at 
£200  a  year,  the  whole  duties  of  which  would  not  occupy  two  hours 
in  the  evening,  did  look  inviting  to  me  at  a  time  when  I  had  been 
obliged  to  incur  a  responsibility  of  £120  for  rent,  and  a  Resolution 
upon  my  last  letter  to  the  Committee  informed  me  that  missionaries 
drawing  more  than  was  authorised  would  not  have  their  bills  honoured 
by  the  Society. 

"  Dr.  Parker  arrived  on  Monday,  a  week  ago  to-day,  calling  forth 
true  gratitude  to  God  for  deliverance  from  the  many  dangers  that 

1  To  his  intimate  friend  Mr.  B.  Broomhall,  dated  November  19,  1854. 


A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE  251 

had  beset  their  path.  Of  course  he  found  our  half  of  the  house  nearly 
empty,  as  my  few  things  did  not  go  far  in  furnishing.  The  mission- 
aries, when  they  discovered  this  lack  of  preparation,  blamed  me  very 
much.  Could  I  tell  them  that  having  paid  nearly  twenty  pounds 
for  rent  I  had  only  three  dollars  left  ...  a  sum  not  sufficient  to 
purchase  provisions  for  a  week  at  the  present  high  rate  of  prices  ? 

"  Fortunately  Dr.  Parker  had  a  few  dollars,  for  which,  however, 
we  had  to  give  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent  discount  to  get  them  into 
cash.  He  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  Mr.  Bird's  com- 
munication contained  no  Letter  of  Credit  nor  allusion  to  one.  And 
when  I  learned  that  he  had  none  with  him,  I  was  no  less  astonished 
that  my  last  letter  from  the  Society  did  not  bring  it,  as  you  expressed 
the  expectation  that  by  the  time  of  its  arrival  he  would  be  here. 

"  The  following  day  we  were  cheered  by  receiving  another  letter 
from  you,  dated  September  15,  but  the  .  .  .  expectation  that  it 
contained  the  all -important  document  was  soon  turned  to  dismay 
when  it  proved  that  hope  deferred  was  all  there  was  to  live  on.  Now 
you  cannot  but  see,  I  am  sure,  what  evidence  this  is  of  gross  neglect. 
We  do,  at  any  rate.  And  while  we  both  cherish  the  warmest  and 
most  affectionate  regard  for  many  members  of  the  Committee  person- 
ally, and  especially  for  its  Secretaries,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  the 
Society  had  acted  disgracefully. 

"  We  went  to  Messrs.  Gibb,  Livingston  and  Co.,  for  Dr.  Parker 
felt  sure  that  you  had  communicated  with  them,  as  Mr.  Bird  promised 
to  do  (if  it  were  not  already  done)  when  he  asked  for  his  Letter  of 
Credit.  But  they  had  heard  nothing  of  it,  and  we  could  get  no  money. 
I  asked  if  any  alteration  had  taken  place  in  my  Letter  of  Credit  since 
the  Society  augmented  my  quarterly  allowance,  but  was  informed 
that  they  had  heard  nothing  of  it.  To  relieve  us  of  our  painful  em- 
barrassment, Mr. offered  on  his  own  responsibility  to  cash  a  Bill 

for  my  extra  £20,  if  I  would  write  requesting  him  to  do  so,  enclosing 
a  copy  of  that  part  of  your  letter  which  authorised  it,  and  get  the 
extract  signed  by  two  merchants.  This  I  have  done.  He  also 
promised  on  our  producing  evidence  from  the  Society's  letters  or 
magazines,  to  cash  a  Bill  for  Dr.  Parker,  endorsed  by  me,  if  I  would 
assure  him  that  it  was  right  to  do  so.  But  when  we  went  with  the 
necessary  papers  we  found  them  so  busy  that  they  could  not  attend 
to  us  until  Tuesday  (to-morrow). 

"  The  weather  is  now  exceedingly  cold,  and  not  having  been  led 
to  expect  it  the  Parkers  needed  an  immediate  supply  of  warm  clothing. 
Beds  and  other  articles  of  furniture  were  also  necessary,  as  well  as 
food  and  firing,  all  of  which  run  into  a  considerable  sum.  Though 
he  has  said  little,  I  am  sure  Dr.  Parker  has  felt  it  keenly.  I  do  trust 
that  you  will  avoid  such  occurrences  in  future,  that  your  missionaries 
may  be  spared  unnecessary  suflfering." 


252  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Difficulties  notwithstanding,  they  tackled  their  work 
bravely,  and  between  long,  busy  Sundays  among  the 
people,  settled  down  as  well  as  they  could  to  study.  It 
was  almost  impossible  to  concentrate  attention  upon  the 
language  at  this  time,  for  the  condition  of  the  people  around 
them  was  heart-rending.  Hundreds  were  dying  of  cold 
and  starvation,  and  there  seemed  no  hope  of  relief  until 
one  side  or  other  could  win  a  decisive  victory. 

For  still  the  Rebels  would  not  yield,  although  the  French 
in  violation  of  their  promised  neutrality  were  taking  sides 
more  and  more  against  them.  A  French  frigate  and  steamer 
stationed  opposite  the  native  city  deliberately  cut  off 
supplies  that  might  have  come  to  it  by  water,  while  on  land 
the  same  end  was  served  by  a  massive  wall  built  and  guarded 
by  French  forces.  All  this,  it  was  becoming  evident,  was 
part  of  a  Jesuit  policy  bent  on  supporting  the  reigning 
dynasty.  For  the  Tai-pings  and  other  insurgents  were 
confessedly  hostile  not  only  to  idolatry  in  all  its  forms,  but 
to  Roman  priestcraft  and  image-worship,  and  to  the  growing 
habit  of  opium-smoking.  If  success  crowned  their  long  and 
desperate  struggle,  Romanism  as  well  as  opium  and  idolatry 
were  bound  to  fall  before  them,  and  this  was  known  at  the 
Vatican  as  well  as  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  First  the 
French,  therefore,  and  later  on  the  English  lent  efficient  aid 
to  the  Imperial  cause,  and  the  activity  of  the  former  in 
Shanghai  at  this  time  was  the  beginning  of  the  foreign 
interference  which  ultimately  led  to  the  suppression  of  the 
Tai-ping  movement.  Whether  this  was  on  the  whole  a 
benefit  to  China  is  a  question  beyond  the  scope  of  these 
pages,  but  what  does  concern  us  here  is  the  added  misery 
and  suffering  that  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleagues  were 
compelled  to  witness  : 

"  From  the  present  aspect  of  affairs,"  wrote  the  former,  "  I  think 
it  all  but  certain  that  the  French  will  shell  and  take  the  city  before 
long,  ...  If  they  do  it  will  be  an  awful  affair,  for  there  are  thousands 
of  innocent  people  in  the  city  who  will  suffer  with  the  guiltiest  of  the 
Rebels.  It  is  heart-rending  to  see  and  hear  what  we  must  from  day 
to  day  ;  and  to  think  of  the  horrors  yet  to  be  endured  makes  one  sick 
and  faint.  Oh,  when  will  Jesus  come  and  put  an  end  to  all  this  sin 
and  misery  1  " 


A  WAY  OF  ESCAPE  253 

One  opportunity  Hudson  Taylor  had  of  trying  to  avert 
the  final  catastrophy.  He  had  gone  into  the  city  to  obtain 
permission  for  his  teacher  Si  to  bring  out  some  members  of 
his  wife's  family,  and  was  talking  with  the  Rebel  leader, 
Chin  A-lin,  when  a  letter  was  brought  in  from  the  English 
and  American  Consular  authorities.  The  letter  was  read 
aloud  and  interpreted  to  the  general  in  the  young 
missionary's  presence.  It  urged  upon  him  the  duty  of 
saving  the  lives  of  the  helpless  and  innocent  people  for 
whom  he  was  responsible,  and  offered  to  undertake  to  have 
matters  peaceably  settled  on  condition  of  an  immediate 
capitulation  upon  the  best  terms  the  Imperial  party  could 
be  prevailed  upon  to  make.  Hudson  Taylor  seems  to  have 
been  the  only  foreigner  present,  and  realising  the  issues  at 
stake  he  did  his  best  to  persuade  the  irate  general  to  con- 
sider the  letter  favourably. 

"  I  had  a  great  deal  of  conversation  with  him,"  he  wrote  on  the 
day  in  question,  December  11,  "  and  endeavoured  to  induce  him  to 
accept  the  mediation  proposed.  .  .  .  But  he  seemed  desperate,  and 
would  not  hear  of  capitulation,  declaring  that  he  would  fight  to  the 
last  and  die  if  need  be,  but  not  alone.  Dusk  compelled  me  to  leave 
the  city,  as  there  seemed  no  hope  of  influencing  him  for  the  better." 

Ever  since  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Parker,  this  open  inter- 
ference on  the  part  of  the  French  had  been  rousing  the 
hatred  of  the  Rebel  soldiery.  Their  attitude  was  becoming 
menacing,  and  the  Chinese  who  favoured  their  cause,  both 
in  and  around  the  Settlement,  were  plotting  revenge  upon 
the  whole  European  community.  This  made  evangelistic 
work  both  difficult  and  dangerous,  and  might  not  unreason- 
ably have  formed  an  excuse  for  lessened  activity  for  the 
time  being.  But  as  far  as  the  missionaries  on  the  L.M.S. 
compound  were  concerned  it  had  no  such  effect.  Dr. 
Medhurst  and  his  colleagues  still  planned  and  carried  out 
their  excursions  to  the  interior,  as  well  as  constant  evangelisa- 
tion in  the  neighbourhood  of  Shanghai  ;  and  Dr.  Parker 
made  many  visits  in  company  with  Hudson  Taylor  to 
towns  and  villages  within  a  radius  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles. 
Down  the  Hwang -pu  River  they  went,  and  up  the  creeks 
and  canals  where  shipping  congregated,  everywhere  search- 


254  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

ing  out  serious  and  intelligent  persons  with  whom  to  leave 
Scriptures  and  tracts.  In  this  way  in  the  month  of  December 
alone  they  distributed  many  hundreds  of  New  Testaments 
and  Gospels,  together  with  a  still  larger  number  of  tracts 
explaining  the  way  of  life.^ 

"  These  have  been  given  with  all  possible  care/'  wrote  Hudson 
Taylor  to  the  Committee,  *'  and  in  most  cases  to  men  whom  we  knew 
were  able  to  read.  A  considerable  number  were  taken  on  junks 
travelling  to  the  northern  provinces." 

But  before  the  year  closed  an  opportunity  came  for 
more  aggressive  efforts.  Mr.  Edkins  was  about  to  pay  his 
long-deferred  visit  to  Ka-shing,  and  renewed  the  invitation 
to  his  young  friend  to  accompany  him.  Eight  months 
previously  they  had  been  stopped  by  the  Battle  of  Muddy 
Flat,  but  now  the  way  seemed  open,  and  in  spite  of  the 
threatening  aspect  of  Shanghai  affairs  they  determined  to 
set  out  at  any  rate,  and  see  what  could  be  done. 

^  During  October,  November  and  the  first  part  of  December,  Hudson 
Taylor  distributed,  with  help  from  Dr.  Parker,  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  New  Testaments  and  Scripture  portions  and  two  thousand  two 
hundred  Christian  books  and  tracts. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   FIRST   EVANGELISTIC   JOURNEY 
December  1854.    Aet.  22. 

It  was  with  no  little  interest,  as  may  well  be  imagined, 
that  Hudson  Taylor  made  preparation  for  this  first  inland 
journey.  In  addition  to  clothes  and  bedding,  a  good 
supply  of  drugs  and  instruments  had  to  be  packed,  for 
there  was  no  knowing  what  demands  might  be  made  upon 
him  as  a  medical  man.  Then  there  were  food-baskets  to 
be  stored  with  provisions  ;  a  stove,  cooking  utensils,  and 
fuel  to  be  provided  ;  and  last  but  not  least,  an  ample 
assortment  of  books  and  tracts.  The  native  house -boat 
engaged  by  Mr.  Edkins  was  happily  large  and  clean.  It 
had  one  tall  mast  with  a  sail  in  proportion,  and  a  cabin 
"  capable  of  affording  considerable  shelter  from  wind  and 
rain,  without  causing  its  occupants  any  concern  as  to  want 
of  ventilation."  Here,  then,  their  belongings  were  arranged 
as  conveniently  as  possible,  and  commending  themselves 
to  the  care  and  blessing  of  God  an  early  start  was  made  on 
Saturday,  December  16. 

They  were  absent  the  whole  of  the  following  week,  and 
in  city  after  city  had  wonderful  opportunities  for  preaching 
the  Gospel.  Everything  about  their  experiences,  it  need 
hardly  be  said,  was  memorable  to  Hudson  Taylor — from 
the  crowds  that  thronged  them  to  the  least  detail  of  hfe 
upon  the  water,  and  the  look  of  the  low -lying  country  as 
it  glided  by,  with  its  innumerable  homes  of  the  living  and 
grave-mounds  of  the  dead. 

But  that  first  night  on  the  river  had  an  interest  all  its 

255 


256  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

own.  Anchored  amid  a  fleet  of  other  boats,  for  mutual 
protection,  they  were  out  among  the  people  at  last  as  he 
had  so  often  longed  to  be.  Each  boat  had  its  family  as 
weU  as  crew,  and  cheerful  was  the  clatter  that  went  on 
while  the  evening  meal  was  in  preparation.  Then  came 
the  little  service  in  their  cabin,  when  the  dim  light  fell  on 
faces  fuU  of  interest  in  the  old,  old  story.  Born,  brought 
up  and  married  on  the  water,  many  among  the  boat-people 
never  live  ashore,  and  three  generations  may  well  have  been 
represented  in  that  evening  meeting.  Of  the  talk  that 
followed  we  know  nothing,  save  that  it  cannot  have  been 
much  prolonged.  Rising  before  daylight  means  retiring 
early,  and  soon  the  young  missionary  would  hear  nothing 
on  aU  the  boats  around  them  but  an  occasional  voice  or 
movement  and  the  gong  of  the  night-watchman  above 
the  soft  lapping  of  water  along  the  shore. 

With  the  turn  of  the  tide  after  midnight,  a  stir  began  on 
the  boats.  Anchors  were  drawn  up,  sails  hoisted,  and 
junks  got  under  way.  As  it  was  still  dark  our  travellers 
slept  on,  awakening  to  find  themselves  within  sight  of 
Sung-kiang,  a  Fu  city  ^  some  forty  miles  south  of  Shanghai. 

Of  their  work  in  this  place  and  others  en  route  for  Ka- 
shing  we  must  not  attempt  to  tell  much  in  detail.  A  few 
scenes,  however,  may  be  touched  upon  as  showing  how  the 
busy  days  were  passed. 

In  a  Buddhist  monastery  in  the  first  city  visited  a  poor 
recluse  was  living,  a  "  holy  man,"  walled  up  in  a  tiny 
chamber  in  which  he  had  been  practically  buried  alive 
for  years.  In  the  temple -courtyard  a  great  crowd  was 
gathered,  listening  to  some  strange  religious  teachers  in  the 
dress  of  Western  lands.  They  were  giving  away  books  as 
well  as  preaching,  and  not  until  their  supply  was  exhausted 
did  they  make  a  move  to  pass  on.  Some  of  the  brother- 
hood then  pressed  forward,  inviting  them  to  rest  awhile  in 
the  monastery,  and  especially  to  visit  the  "  holy  man." 

1  A  Fu  is  the  governing  city  of  a  prefecture  (or  group  of  counties),  seven 
to  fourteen  of  which  go  to  make  up  a  province.  The  word  is  also  applied 
to  the  prefect  himself  and  to  the  district  he  governs.  So  that  the  Sung- 
kiang  Fu  (mandarin)  resides  in  Sung-kiang  Fu  (the  city)  and  from  that 
centre  controls  the  entire  Sung-kiang  Fu  (prefecture) . 


Phutogmpk 


By  a  Chinese. 


WATERWAYS    NEAR    SHANGHAI. 


Many  of  which  Mr.  Taylor  visited  in  hi.s  early  evangelistic  journeys. 

To  face  page  256. 


THE  FIRST  EVANGELISTIC  JOURNEY       257 

Thus  it  was  that  Hudson  Taylor  saw  for  the  first  time 
one  of  these  unhappy  beings.  Surrounded  by  the  yellow- 
robed,  shaven-headed  priests,  the  missionaries  were  escorted 
to  the  cell.  The  only  access  to  the  poor  devotee  was  a  small 
opening  left  when  the  wall  was  in  process  of  building, 
through  which  a  man  could  scarcely  pass  his  hand.  There, 
almost  without  light  or  motion,  unwashed,  unkempt,  and 
alone,  the  "  holy  man  "  passed  his  days  and  nights  of 
silence.  How  strange  must  have  seemed  to  him  those 
voices  with  their  foreign  accent,  and  the  pale  faces  of  which 
he  caught  a  glimpse  through  that  Uttle  opening,  his  one 
point  of  contact  with  the  outer  world.  Mr.  Edkins,  happily, 
could  speak  a  dialect  with  which  he  was  familiar,  and  very 
earnest  were  their  prayers  that  the  "  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy,"  heard  under  these  circumstances  for  the  first  time, 
might  bring  light  and  salvation  to  his  soul. 

In  the  same  city  a  very  different  experience  awaited  them, 
and  one  that  made  them  appreciate  the  eighty-nine  stone 
bridges  to  be  found  within  its  walls.  Followed  by  a  noisy 
rabble  as  they  were  seeking  their  boat,  the  visitors  turned 
down  a  side  street  leading  to  a  landing-stage,  which  they 
took  to  be  that  of  the  public  ferry.  To  their  dismay  it  was 
a  private  wharf  protected  by  a  pair  of  gates  they  had  hardly 
noticed  in  passing.  To  return  by  the  way  they  had  come 
was  impossible,  for  the  narrow  street  was  filled  with  an 
uproarious  crowd,  who,  to  prevent  escape  in  that  direction, 
swung  to  the  gates  and  swarmed  aU  over  them,  watching 
between  the  bars  for  the  next  move  of  the  strangers.  The 
position  was  far  from  pleasant  in  an  unknown  city,  with 
the  crowd  growing  larger  and  more  noisy  all  the  time, 
and  no  bridge  in  sight.  But  the  missionaries  quietly  looked 
to  the  Lord  in  prayer,  and  kept  their  wits  about  them. 

"  There  were  plenty  of  boats  at  hand,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  but 
none  of  them  would  take  us.  We  called  to  several,  to  the  great 
amusement  of  the  crowd,  but  in  vain.  ...  At  length  seeing  that 
something  must  be  done  I  took  '  French  leave,'  jumped  into  a  boat 
that  was  passing,  and  pulled  it  to  the  side  for  Mr.  Edkins.  Taken 
by  surprise  the  men  made  no  objection,  and  off  we  went  to  the  chagrin 
of  our  tormentors  who  opened  the  gates  and  rushed  to  the  waterside 
shouting  tumultuously." 


258  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

A  first  experience  of  trying  crowds  ;  and  he  was  to  meet 
so  many  ! 

Before  leaving  the  city  that  night,  a  second  or  third 
supply  of  literature  being  all  distributed,  a  turn  in  the  road 
brought  them  suddenly  on  the  base  of  the  Square  Pagoda. 
Grey  and  imposing  the  massive  structure  rose  before  them 
that  for  nine  hundred  years  had  been  the  glory  of  Sung- 
kiang.  The  priest  in  charge  consented  to  admit  them, 
and  soon  the  crowding  of  the  streets  gave  place  to  the 
sombre  quiet  of  the  old  pagoda  and  the  view  to  be  seen 
from  a  gallery  near  the  top. 

Long  and  silently  they  stood  looking  down  upon  the 
myriad  homes  outspread  before  them.  Far  reached  the 
ancient  wall  enclosing  its  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 
beyond  it  the  tent-like  roofs  still  stretched  away  toward 
the  setting  sun.  And  this  was  only  one  great  centre.  All 
about  it  lay  the  rich,  level  country,  dotted  as  far  as  eye 
could  see  with  villages  and  hamlets,  while  distant  pagodas 
and  temples  told  of  other  cities  within  easy  reach. 

It  was  the  first  time  Hudson  Taylor  had  looked  out  on 
such  a  scene,  and  the  fact  of  China's  immense  population 
began  to  assume  new  meaning  from  that  hour.  In  the 
quiet  of  their  boat  that  evening  he  was  thinking  of  it  still, 
pen  in  hand, 

"  I  think  you  will  join  me  sooner  or  later,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Broomhall.  "  Consider  the  use  you  could  be  out  here.  Oh,  for 
the  sake  of  Him  who  loved  you  even  unto  death,  leave  all,  follow  Him, 
come  out  and  engage  in  this  all-important  work." 

More  important  than  ever  did  their  work  appear  next 
morning  when  the  city  of  Ka-shan  was  reached.  Could 
the  young  missionary  ever  forget  the  crowd  that  awaited 
them  in  one  of  its  temple  courts  ?  Having  unintentionally 
disturbed  a  group  of  ladies  engaged  in  idol-worship,  the 
missionaries  had  retired  to  the  pagoda,  and  upon  returning 
found  a  sea  of  faces  filling  the  courtyard,  men  of  all  sorts 
and  ages  eager  to  see  and  hear.  For  a  long  time  Mr.  Edkins 
held  their  attention,  reasoning  with  them  of  sin,  righteous- 
ness and  judgment  to  come,  while  Hudson  Taylor  beside 
him  laboured  fervently  in  prayer. 


THE  FIRST  EVANGELISTIC  JOURNEY       259 

The  address  finished  and  their  books  distributed,  Mr. 
Edkins  asked  the  crowd  to  make  way  for  them  to  leave  the 
temple,  and  they  had  just  reached  the  main  entrance  when 
an  imposing  cavalcade  arrived.  To  their  surprise  it  soon 
transpired  that  the  handsome,  dignified  official  who  stepped 
from  his  chair,  and  came  down  the  avenue  of  soldiers  to 
meet  them,  was  no  less  a  person  than  the  Mayor  of  the  city, 
intent  upon  turning  back  the  foreigners.  An  anxious  hour 
followed,  but  by  explaining  their  object  fully  and  promising 
not  to  go  beyond  the  next  prefectural  city,  the  missionaries 
obtained  permission  to  continue  their  journey. 

"  Your  books  are  good,"  he  admitted,  "  and  you  may 
take  them  as  far  as  Ka-shing,  provided  some  of  my  attend- 
ants accompany  you." 

And  to  this  requirement  he  held  firm,  pointing  out  the 
men  who  were  to  "  shadow  "  the  foreigners.  But  it  does 
not  appear  that  their  presence  proved  any  drawback  to  the 
work  in  hand. 

The  sun  was  setting  on  the  fourth  day  of  their  journey 
when  at  length  the  city  for  which  they  were  bound  came 
in  sight.  Far  reached  its  suburbs  along  the  river-bank, 
following  the  grey  line  of  the  turreted  wall.  Informed 
already  as  to  its  history,  the  travellers  knew  that  Ka-shing 
Fu  was  far  more  ancient  and  important  than  any  of  the 
places  yet  visited.  Dating  from  a  dynasty  that  flourished 
twenty  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  it  had  been 
contemporaneous  in  its  early  history  with  the  cities  of 
Abraham's  time.  Not  until  a.d.  888,  however,  had  its 
present  wall  been  built,  four  miles  in  circumference,  with 
the  moat  that  surrounds  it  still. 

Despite  its  long  history  and  many  changes,  Ka-shing  at 
the  time  of  this  visit  was  a  notable  centre  of  wealth  and 
learning.  Printing  and  publishing  employed  many  of  its 
people,  but  the  manufacture  of  silk  and  cotton,  and  a 
variety  of  articles  in  copper  and  brass,  were  also  among  its 
special  industries.  The  population  was  vast,  but  in  common 
with  all  other  places  removed  by  any  distance  from  the 
Treaty  Ports,  it  was  wholly  destitute  of  the  Gospel. 

Unspeakably   thankful   to  have  been   able   to   reach   a 


26o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

point  so  far  in  the  "  interior,"  the  missionaries  realised  that 
great  tact  and  caution  would  be  needed  in  making  the 
most  of  their  opportunity.  They  had  learned  something 
already  of  the  difficulties  that  might  arise  from  showing 
themselves  too  freely  on  the  crowded  streets,  and  deter- 
mined to  work  in  the  extensive  suburbs  rather  than  enter 
the  city  itself.  Their  presence  would  soon  become  known, 
and  those  who  wished  to  obtain  books  or  see  them  personally 
would  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  out  their  junk. 

Immediately  upon  arrival,  therefore,  they  went  ashore, 
and  before  people  had  awakened  to  the  fact  that  foreigners 
had  appeared  outside  the  West  Gate,  they  had  distributed 
a  large  number  of  tracts.     But  even  so, 

"  Returning  to  our  boat,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  we  unintentionally 
gratified  hundreds  of  spectators  .  .  .  including  many  ladies,  elegantly 
dressed.  But  soon  the  gathering  shades  of  evening  emptied  the 
windows  and  closed  the  doors.  Boats  ceased  coming  for  tracts,  the 
people  went  home  for  the  night,  and  we  ourselves  were  glad  of  a  little 
rest." 

Next  morning  they  were  up  betimes,  and  even  before 
breakfast  made  a  good  beginning  in  the  Liu-li-Kiai,  or  Two- 
Mile  Street,  bordering  the  Grand  Canal.  Whenever  a 
crowd  collected  they  passed  on  in  their  boat  to  another 
part  of  the  river-bank,  their  movements  being  so  quick 
that  they  were  able  to  leave  tracts  along  the  whole  length 
of  this  suburb  before  it  became  prudent  to  absent  them- 
selves for  a  time.  This  they  did  by  poling  round  to  the 
south  side  of  the  city,  where  a  wide  expanse  of  water  and 
some  picturesque  islands  formed  a  favourite  pleasure- 
resort.  Here  they  were  accessible  to  any  who  wished  to 
follow  them,  and  even  if  the  crowds  were  large  business 
would  not  be  interrupted,  nor  the  shopkeepers  annoyed. 

Little  were  they  prepared,  however,  for  the  invasion  of 
the  Yen-yii  Leo  (Mansion  of  Smoke  and  Rain)  that  followed. 
Out  in  the  middle  of  the  lake,  this  attractive  island  was 
the  place  chosen  by  the  Emperor  K'ien-lung  of  the  present 
dynasty  for  a  summer  residence,  and  the  beautiful  building 
and  gardens  preserved  a  romantic  interest,  though  falling 
somewhat  into  decay.     Mooring  their  boat  near  the  palace. 


THE  FIRST  EVANGELISTIC  JOURNEY       261 

now  used  as  a  temple,  Mr.  Edkins  and  his  companion  went 
ashore  to  see  what  was  to  be  seen.  But  they  themselves 
were  the  sight  of  supreme  interest,  as  they  soon  discovered. 

Before  we  had  finished  looking  round  we  observed  a  number  of 
boats  putting  off  in  our  direction,  and  soon  a  regular  ferry  was  estab- 
lished between  the  island  and  the  opposite  suburb.  The  people  came 
in  multitudes,  and  those  who  could  read  were  quickly  supplied  with 
tracts.  When  a  large  number  had  collected,  Mr.  Edkins  preached, 
and  afterwards  I  had  a  long  talk  with  some  who  gathered  round  me 
for  books.  By  this  time  the  numbers  who  had  come  were  so  great 
that  we  were  obliged  to  go  on  board  our  boat,  from  which  Mr.  Edkins 
again  addressed  the  people,  to  many  of  whom  tracts  were  given. 

As  the  crowd  was  continually  receiving  accessions,  we  thought  it 
wiser  to  put  off  a  little  from  the  island,  to  prevent  those  who  were 
behind  from  pushing  the  foremost  into  the  water  in  their  eagerness 
to  see  and  hear.  Immediately,  however,  the  people  followed  us,  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  lake  we  were  surrounded  by  boats  and  kept  hard 
at  work  supplying  the  newcomers  with  portions  of  Scripture  and 
tracts.  As  fast  as  one  boat  was  supplied  it  pushed  off  and  another 
took  its  place.  It  must  have  been  a  paying  business  for  the  boat- 
people  !  The  boats  were  a  better  class  than  those  commonly  seen 
about  Shanghai,  and  almost  without  exception  they  were  skulled  by 
women.  Supplying  tracts  and  talking  without  intermission  proved 
tiring  work  as  the  afternoon  wore  on.  But  what  joy  it  was  to  re- 
member the  promise  that  cannot  be  broken,  "  My  Word  shall  not 
return  unto  Me  void,"  and  to  think  that  not  a  few  around  us  might 
shine  forever  like  the  stars  of  heaven  in  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

Later  in  the  day  visits  were  received  from  several  in- 
telligent men  who  wanted  to  know  more  about  the  contents 
of  the  books  they  had  received.  Some  were  strangers 
from  a  distance,  others  Mandarins  awaiting  office,  and  one 
an  Inspector  of  Grain  in  the  Ka-shing  district.  These 
persons  engaged  Mr.  Edkins  in  prolonged  conversation, 
while  Hudson  Taylor  continued  supplying  tracts  from  the 
deck.  Not  until  evening  was  there  any  cessation  in  this 
work,  and  then  boat-people  and  foreigners  were  alike 
weary  and  thankful  for  rest. 

The  following  morning  found  them  again  near  the  Two- 
Mile  Street,  as  the  island  would  not  have  been  a  safe 
anchorage  for  the  night.  After  breakfast,  and  united 
prayer  for  blessing,   they  visited  several  smaller  suburbs 


262  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

before  moving  off  to  the  South  Lake  as  before.  Here  the 
people  began  coming  at  once,  and  much  of  the  day  was 
occupied  in  preaching  and  seeing  patients  as  well  as  in 
supplying  literature,  for  which  there  was  a  great  demand. 

"  We  found  no  difficulty,"  wrote  Mr,  Edkins  of  the  entire  journey, 
"  in  distributing  a  full  share  of  the  Million  Chinese  Testaments," 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  they  spent  an  hour  or  two 
in  a  famous  temple  containing  several  idols  of  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  in  height,  A  most  impressive  view  was  obtained 
from  the  pagoda  near  at  hand,  and  the  brief  respite  for 
prayer  that  it  afforded  sent  them  back  refreshed  to  the 
crowd  below.  Until  evening  they  were  again  the  centre  of 
a  busily-plying  ferry-system  on  the  South  Lake,  for  only 
when  dusk  was  falling  did  the  last  of  their  visitors  row 
away. 

A  stormy  night  followed,  ushering  in  a  change  of  weather 
that  put  a  stop  to  their  work  for  the  time  being  ;  but  not 
before  one  rainy  day  had  been  spent  in  conversation  with 
specially-interested  callers. 

"  Your  words  are  true  and  your  books  are  true,"  said 
some  of  these  on  leaving.     "  It  is  a  good  doctrine." 


I 


CHAPTER   XXI 

OUR   PLANS   OF   USEFULNESS 

Including  Second,  Third,  and  Fourth  Journeys. 
December  1854-MARCH  1855.    Aet.  22. 

Usefulness  was  what  they  desired  most  of  all,  and  it  was 
natural  that  as  the  year  drew  to  a  close  they  should  consult 
together  and  work  out  careful  plans  to  this  end.  Dr.  Parker, 
an  able,  experienced  man,  had  a  family  to  think  of,  and 
Hudson  Taylor,  young  as  he  was,  was  becoming  an  efficient 
missionary.  Nothing  had  yet  been  heard  of  the  missing 
Letter  of  Credit,  so  that  their  perplexity  with  regard  to 
money  matters  was  extreme,  and  tidings  that  new  mission- 
aries of  the  L.M.S.  were  about  to  sail  for  China  reminded 
them  that  even  the  premises  they  now  occupied  would 
have  to  be  vacated  before  long.  This  it  was  that  gave 
urgency  and  definiteness  to  their  consultations,  and  re- 
sulted in  several  letters  setting  forth  "  plans  of  usefulness," 
that  for  the  next  few  months  largely  occupied  their  thoughts. 

"  We  who  are  on  the  field/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  at  the  end  of 
December,  "  desire  to  be  as  efficient  as  possible  ;  and  while  relying 
on  the  blessing  of  God  alone  for  success,  we  wish  to  employ  every 
means  in  our  power  to  attain  it.  In  this  I  know  you  are  heartily 
with  us,  and  I  trust  that  by  united  prayer  and  effort  and  above  all 
through  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  we  shall  not  be  disappointed." 

And  then  he  went  on  to  outline  to  the  Committee  the 
thoughts  they  had  worked  out. 

To  begin  with,  a  permanent  centre  was  needed  and  must 
be  obtained  without  delay.     Of  the  five  Treaty  Ports  open 

263 


264  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

to  the  residence  of  foreigners,  none  was  more  suitable  than 
Shanghai — within  reach  of  many  important  cities,  and 
holding  a  strategic  position  with  regard  to  mid-China.  In 
Shanghai,  therefore,  their  headquarters  should  be  located. 
And  the  next  step  was  equally  plain  :  in  Shanghai  they 
must  have  suitable  premises,  and  that  at  once. 

This  again  necessitated  a  certain  adequacy  of  method 
and  equipment,  for  other  missions  were  there  before  them, 
and  had  established  precedents  that  could  not  be  ignored. 
Plan  as  simply  as  they  might,  they  would  at  least  require 
a  doctor's  house  and  a  school-building,  in  addition  to 
hospital  and  dispensary.  For  a  chapel  they  could  wait, 
using  meanwhile  the  receiving-room  of  the  hospital,  specially 
adapted  for  meetings.  From  this  central  station,  their 
plan  was  to  visit  the  surrounding  country  and  establish 
branch-schools  and  dispensaries  wherever  possible.  These 
would  be  regularly  supervised  by  one  or  other  of  the 
missionaries,  and  would  become  in  their  turn  centres  of 
Christian  effort. 

It  was  all  admirable  no  doubt,  and  the  estimate  of  a 
thousand  pounds  for  land  and  buildings  was  not  immoderate. 
But  it  was  based  upon  conclusions  that  in  their  case  were 
misleading,  and  just  because  the  good  is  often  the  enemy 
of  the  best  would  have,  thwarted  their  real  life-usefulness, 
fore-ordained  in  the  purposes  of  God. 

But  the  letters  were  sent  off,  and  the  New  Year  given 
to  prayer  with  these  thoughts  specially  in  mind.  It  was 
now  the  depth  of  winter  and  exceptionally  cold.  Hudson 
Taylor  had  bought  a  native  boat  for  half  its  value,  and  on 
frequent  excursions  to  the  country  was  able  to  purchase 
fuel  and  provisions  at  a  lower  rate  than  in  Shanghai.  This 
with  Mrs.  Parker's  thrifty  housekeeping  made  such  means 
as  they  had  last  as  long  as  possible,  but  even  so  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  they  could  keep  one  room  warm  enough  for 
study.  Hudson  Taylor  was  working  hard  at  two  dialects, 
a  Shanghai  teacher  coming  to  him  in  the  daytime,  and 
his  Mandarin-speaking  pundit  at  night.  He  was  also 
carrying  on  a  school,  encouraged  to  find  himself  well 
understood  by  the  children. 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  265 

"  I  trust  that  by  the  time  I  have  been  here  a  year,"  he  wrote,  "  I 
shall  be  able  to  preach  both  in  Mandarin  and  in  the  Shanghai 
dialect.  ...  I  should  have  been  further  advanced  in  the  latter,  of 
course,  had  I  commenced  it  on  arrival.  But  I  begin  to  think  that  I 
was  directed  by  a  higher  Wisdom  in  tiiking  up  Mandarin  first,  and 
trust  that  though  some  delay  has  been  occasioned  in  getting  into 
work,  I  shall  in  the  end  be  fitted  for  more  extensive  usefulness." 

Eager  as  he  was  to  make  progress  with  his  studies,  it 
was  all  the  more  remarkable  that  the  need  of  the  un- 
evangelised  regions  round  about  should  press  so  heavily 
upon  his  heart.  Certainly  it  was  not  the  season  of  the 
year  that  tempted  him  to  another  journey,  nor  was  it 
pleasant  companionship,  for  he  had  to  go  alone.  The 
condition  of  affairs,  politically,  might  in  itself  have  been 
sufficient  to  hold  him  back,  for  a  crisis  could  not  long  be 
delayed  in  the  siege  of  the  native  city.  But  little  as  he 
realised  what  it  foreshadowed,  Hudson  Taylor  found 
himself  unable  to  disregard  the  appeal  of  the  unreached. 
The  ice  was  broken.  He  had  been  on  one  evangelistic 
tour  already,  and  had  seen  how  such  work  could  be  done. 
Perhaps  it  was  this  that  drew  him  on  ?  Perhaps  it  was 
something  deeper,  more  significant. 


Second  Journey  :  January  1855 

At  any  rate  he  set  out  on  January  25,  travelling  in  his 
own  boat.  A  few  miles  south  of  Shanghai,  a  tributary 
stream  was  reached,  leading  to  a  district  little  known  to 
foreigners.  Lying  between  the  Hwang-poo  river  and  the 
coast,  the  region  was  one  infested  with  smugglers,  and  even 
its  larger  centres  of  population  had  rarely  if  ever  been 
visited  with  the  Gospel.  It  was  a  favourite  resort  of 
desperate  characters  throughout  that  borderland  between 
two  provinces,^  and  might  well  have  been  avoided  by  the 
solitary  evangelist  had  he  desired  an  easy  task.  Travelling 
on  far  into  the  night,  however,  he  was  conscious  of  a  Presence 

1  The  province  of  Kiang-su  in  which  Shanghai  is  situated,  and  the 
province  of  Cheh-kiang  immediately  to  the  south,  with  Hang-chow  and 
Ning-po  among  its  well-known  cities. 


266  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

that  precluded  fear,  and  robbed  the  unknown  of  its  possible 
terrors. 

Far  from  promising  must  have  seemed  the  awakening 
when  they  found  themselves  next  morning  frozen  in  between 
high,  snow-covered  banks,  the  water  covered  with  a  thick 
coating  of  ice.  To  the  uninitiated  it  may  sound  interesting 
enough  to  pole  one's  way  along  such  a  river,  breaking  a 
channel  for  the  boat  a  foot  at  a  time.  But  any  one  who 
has  spent  long  days  and  nights  on  a  leaky  junk,  under 
similar  conditions,  will  not  be  anxious  to  repeat  the  experi- 
ment, except  for  the  ends  Hudson  Taylor  had  in  view. 

And  these  ends  were  in  no  wise  hindered  by  the  slow 
progress  that  was  all  they  could  make.  Accompanied  by 
a  servant  to  carry  books,  the  young  missionary  went  ashore 
and  walked  from  hamlet  to  hamlet.  His  dress,  speech  and 
occupation  everywhere  aroused  the  intensest  interest,  and 
great  was  the  eagerness  to  obtain  his  beautifully  bound 
and  printed  books. ^  That  he  was  giving  these  away  was 
not  the  least  part  of  the  wonder,  and  as  village  after  village 
turned  out  to  meet  him,  the  schoolmaster  or  some  promising 
student  was  put  forward  to  secure  as  many  as  possible. 
It  was  casting  bread  indeed  "  upon  the  waters,"  but  very 
definite  was  his  faith  in  the  promise,  "  It  shall  accomplish 
that  which  I  please  and  .  .  .  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto 
I  sent  it." 

Two  governing  cities  were  visited  on  this  journey,  besides 
many  villages,  and  a  market-town  whose  population  equalled 
that  of  both  cities  combined.  It  was  lonely,  trying  work, 
for  the  people  were  rough,  and  the  crowding  dangerous, 
and  in  reading  the  journal  one  is  surprised  at  the  thorough- 
ness with  which  it  was  done.  Every  street  in  Chwan-sha 
was  visited,  for  example,  and  in  each  of  the  suburbs  ;  all 
the  reading  men  he  could  find  being  supplied  with  Gospels 
and  tracts.  In  several  temples  also  addresses  were  delivered. 
There  was  no  companion  to  fall  back  upon,  and  unless  he 

'  Pah-ko  ts'ien  ih  pun,  "  Eight  cash  a  copy,"  is  a  phrase  that  early 
becomes  familiar  to  the  missionary  who  in  these  days  presents  his  Scriptures 
for  sale  rather  than  free  distribution.  And  certainly  they  are  a  wonder 
at  the  price  (one  farthing),  printed  in  clear,  large  type,  and  attractively 
bound  in  tinted  paper  covers. 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  267 

preached  himself  the  people  might  never  hear.  So  looking 
to  the  Lord  for  help,  Hudson  Taylor  made  the  most  of  his 
few  sentences,  following  up  long  days  ashore  with  hours  of 
medical  work  and  private  conversation  on  the  boat  at 
night. 

In  Nan-hwei,^  the  crowds  were  especially  turbulent,  and 
a  Sunday  spent  there  was  memorable  both  to  himself  and 
the  local  authorities.  Alarmed  at  the  news  that  a  foreigner 
was  approaching,  orders  had  been  issued  to  close  the 
principal  gate  of  the  city,  and  keep  it  locked  and  barred 
until  after  he  had  withdrawn.  Knowing  nothing  of  this 
defensive  movement,  Hudson  Taylor  spent  the  night 
outside  a  gate  of  secondary  importance,  unnoticed  in  his 
little  boat,  and  early  on  Sunday  morning  passed  in  and 
went  about  his  work.  Meanwhile  a  sharp  look-out  was 
kept  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city,  and  it  was  a  crest- 
fallen messenger  who  bore  tidings  to  the  Ya-men  "  that  the 
foreigner  was  already  within  its  walls.  Greatly  taken 
aback,  the  Mandarin  sent  to  learn  all  he  could  about  the 
intruder ;  and  when  it  proved  that  he  was  alone  and  un- 
armed, a  well-behaved  person  whose  stay  would  be  of  short 
duration,  his  fears  were  dispelled,  and  the  East  Gate  shortly 
after  was  reopened  to  traffic. 

The  excitement  of  the  people,  however,  was  not  so 
easily  allayed,  and  after  a  brave  attempt  at  preaching 
Hudson  Taylor  had  to  retire  before  overwhelming  crowds. 
Knowing  that  those  who  were  interested  would  follow  him, 
he  took  refuge  on  his  boat  at  a  little  distance  from  the  city. 
And  a  busy  day  he  had  of  it — receiving  the  hundreds  who 
came,  supplying  all  who  could  read  with  Christian  literature, 
giving  medicines  to  the  sick,  telling  over  and  over  again 
the  main  facts  of  the  Gospel,  and  answering  endless  questions 
as  to  personal  matters.  Several  educated  men  paid  him 
a  visit,  two  of  whom  warned  the  boatmen  that  it  was  not 
safe  for  a  foreigner  to  be  in  that  district  alone  and  un- 
protected. But  Hudson  Taylor,  overhearing  the  conversa- 
tion, assured  them  that  he  had  no  fear,  for  the  Great  God, 

^  Nan-hwei  "  Hsien,"  the  latter  word  standing  for  a  county-town  or 
governing  city  next  in  importance  to  a  "  Fu." 

-  'ihe  Ya-men  is  the  residence  of  the  local  Mandarin. 


268  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Creator  and  Upholder  of  Heaven  and  earth,  never  fails  to 
keep  watch  over  those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him. 

So  real  was  this  faith  that  he  did  not  even  hesitate,  the 
following  day,  when  urged  to  go  he  knew  not  whither  to 
visit  a  dying  woman.  He  had  just  completed  a  morning's 
work  in  the  city,  and  upon  reaching  the  boat  found  several 
men  from  a  distance,  one  of  whom  had  brought  a  chair  and 
bearers  to  carry  him  back  to  see  his  suffering  wife.  They 
were  all  earnest  in  their  entreaties  that  he  would  accompany 
them,  so  in  spite  of  the  risk  involved  in  going  off  with  entire 
strangers,  the  young  missionary  set  out. 

Mile  after  mile  they  hurried  over  the  frozen  paths  until 
almost  benumbed  with  cold  he  wondered  whether  it  would 
be  possible  to  get  back  that  night.  Even  so  he  seems  to  have 
had  no  fear.  Yet  how  easily  the  whole  thing  might  have 
been  a  trap  !  In  that  lawless  part  of  the  province,  with 
the  country  in  the  disturbed  state  in  which  it  was,  nothing 
was  more  likely  than  that  he  should  be  seized  and  held  to 
ransom,  or  even  tortured  and  killed  as  a  hated  foreigner. 
But,  as  he  had  written  home  the  night  before  : 

I  knew  that  I  was  where  duty  had  placed  me,  unworthy  as  I  am 
of  such  a  position,  and  felt  that  though  solitary  I  was  not  alone. 

The  visit  proved  interesting  when  their  destination  was 
reached.  The  poor  woman  was  suffering  from  dropsy,  and 
though  great  relief  could  have  been  afforded  under  suitable 
circumstances,  it  was  not  possible  to  operate  where  she  was. 
Mr.  Taylor  urged  her  husband  to  take  her  to  Shanghai, 
regretting  that  he  had  no  hospital  into  which  he  could 
promise  to  receive  her  ;  and  after  making  what  arrange- 
ments he  could  for  her  comfort,  he  explained  to  them  simply 
and  fully  the  message  he  had  come  so  far  to  bring.  Of 
course  all  the  village  and  surrounding  hamlets  turned  out 
to  look  and  listen,  so  that  his  audience  was  considerable, 
nor  had  they  ever  heard  the  tidings  of  redeeming  love. 

As  he  was  leaving,  the  husband  came  up  with  a  fine  fowl 
tied  by  the  legs,  which  he  presented  to  the  "  foreign  doctor," 
with  many  apologies  for  the  insufficiency  of  his  offering. 
And  it  was  his  turn  to  be  surprised  when  the  stranger  begged 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  269 

him  to  set  it  free,  saying  with  many  thanks,  that  his 
medicine,  like  his  message,  was  "  without  money  and  without 
price."  Tired  though  he  was  on  reaching  the  boat,  he  had 
the  joy  of  knowing  that  in  one  more  home  and  district  the 
name  of  Jesus  was  as  ointment  poured  forth— a  sweet 
fragrance  at  any  rate  to  God. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  last  of  January,  he  was  leaving 
the  market-town  of  Chow-pu,  anxious  to  reach  Shanghai 
that  night.  But  though  the  boatmen  travelled  on  till  nearly 
morning,  it  was  not  until  late  on  February  i  they  dropped 
anchor  at  their  starting-point.  Then  there  were  provisions 
to  unload  and  carry  home  to  replenish  Mrs.  Parker's  supplies 
before  Hudson  Taylor  could  give  attention  to  a  matter  that 
was  specially  on  his  heart. 

A  few  weeks  previously,  three  men  of  his  acquaintance 
had  been  seized  in  the  North  Gate  house,  dragged  out  of 
bed  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  handed  over  as  rebels 
to  the  local  authorities.  Upon  hearing  of  it  the  young 
missionary  had  at  once  sought  their  release.  But  though 
assured  that  they  would  soon  be  at  hberty,  no  charge 
having  been  proved  against  them,  the  poor  fellows  were 
only  hurried  from  prison  to  prison,  everywhere  starved  and 
tortured  to  make  them  confess  alleged  crimes.  Again  and 
again  Hudson  Taylor  had  appealed  on  their  behalf,  but  as 
long  as  there  was  any  chance  of  extorting  money  the  case 
seemed  hopeless.  Now,  returning  encouraged  from  his 
journey,  he  went  once  more  and  to  his  great  joy  was  success- 
ful. The  men  still  hved,  and  before  long  he  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  them  in  such  comfort  as  their  homes  could 
afford. 

But  how  small  a  thing  it  seemed  to  reUeve  the  sufferings 
of  one  group  of  people  amid  all  the  horrors  that  were  going 
on  !  Shanghai  was  in  a  worse  condition  than  ever,  if  that 
were  possible.  After  more  than  a  year  of  desultory  fighting, 
the  Imperial  forces  seemed  roused  at  length  to  take  the 
city.  A  large  new  camp  quite  near  the  Settlement  had  cut 
off  the  last  hope  of  relief  on  the  landward  side,  and  among 
the  beleaguered  garrison  famine  and  disease  were  doing  their 


270  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

deadly  work.  Terrible  indeed  was  the  strain  of  those  days 
for  foreigners  and  natives  alike,  for  it  was  only  too  evident 
that  a  wholesale  massacre  would  be  the  end  of  the  tragedy 
before  their  eyes. 

Even  in  the  Settlement  the  position  was  one  of  danger. 
The  attempts  of  the  French  to  take  the  city  had  been 
unsuccessful,  and  by  their  manifest  futihty  had  impaired 
the  prestige  of  all  the  European  forces. 

"  It  is  openly  announced/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  on  February  3, 
"  that  foreigners  are  no  longer  to  be  feared.  .  .  .  Added  to  this,  the 
Imperial  soldiers  are  nearer  and  more  numerous  than  ever,  their  new 
Camp  being  hardly  more  than  a  stone's  throw  from  this  house.  Dr. 
Parker  has  already  told  you  of  a  ball  and  shell  thrown  into  our  com- 
pound. ...  So  you  see  we  are  safe  only  as  protected  by  Him  who  is 
the  Shield  as  well  as  Sun  of  His  people." 

Still  more  threatening  in  some  ways  was  the  attitude  of 
the  rebel  party.  Their  indignation  at  French  interference 
knew  no  bounds,  and  had  resulted  in  a  Secret  Society  for 
purposes  of  revenge  in  which  no  distinction  would  be  possible 
between  one  nationality  and  another.  Alarming  rmnours 
were  afloat  of  an  attack  to  be  made  on  the  Settlement,  and 
it  was  well  known  that  should  such  plans  be  carried  out  no 
help  could  be  relied  upon  from  the  Government  soldiery, 
who  would  gladly  see  the  foreigners  massacred  that  they 
might  share  the  spoils. 

So  they  were  anxious  times  indeed  after  Hudson  Taylor's 
return  from  this  second  journey,  and  might  well  have 
hindered  further  aggressive  work.  But  in  the  midst  of  it 
all  he  was  quietly  planning  another  preaching  tour,  to  be 
taken  in  company  with  older  missionaries. 

Third  Journey:  February  to  March  1855 

Proceeding  in  a  westerly  direction,  the  Uttle  party  seems 
to  have  travelled  as  far  as  Tsing-pu  on  their  way  to  the  Soo- 
chow  Lake.  Only  the  briefest  record  remains  of  this 
itineration,  probably  because  it  was  curtailed  by  the  fall 
of  the  doomed  city.  For  they  had  not  been  absent  many 
days  when  they  saw  from  the  top  of  a  hill  the  smoke  of  an 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  271 

immense  conflagration.  So  great  a  fire  in  that  direction 
could  mean  but  one  thing.  Shanghai  was  in  flames  !  And 
what  of  their  famiHes  in  the  foreign  Settlement  ? 

Setting  out  at  once  to  return,  their  apprehensions  were 
confirmed  by  Rebel  soldiers  who  came  seeking  protection. 
This,  of  course,  the  missionaries,  themselves  defenceless, 
were  unable  to  afford  ;  and  shortly  after  the  poor  fellows 
were  taken  and  beheaded  before  their  eyes.  Sadly  con- 
tinuing their  journey,  they  soon  came  upon  abundant  traces 
of  the  catastrophe  that  had  taken  place,  and  as  they  passed 
the  native  city  had  to  turn  away  from  sights  of  horror  on 
every  hand.  But  the  Settlement  was  in  peace.  The  up- 
rising of  the  Triad  Society  had  been  averted,  and  the 
Imperialists,  satiated  with  slaughter,  were  too  exultant  over 
their  achievements  to  pay  much  attention  to  foreigners. 

Thus  ended  in  a  holocaust  of  human  hves  the  sufferings 
of  the  siege  that  had  been  in  progress  ever  since  Hudson 
Taylor's  arrival  in  China,  twelve  months  previously. 

"  Shanghai  is  now  in  peace,"  he  wrote  on  March  4,  "  but  it  is  like 
the  peace  of  death.  Two  thousand  people  at  the  very  least  have 
perished,  and  the  tortures  some  of  the  victims  have  undergone  cannot 
have  been  exceeded  by  the  worst  barbarities  of  the  Inquisition.  The 
city  is  little  more  than  a  mass  of  ruins,  and  many  of  the  wretched 
objects  who  have  survived  are  piteous  to  behold.  .  .  . 

"  How  dreadful  is  war  !  From  the  South  to  the  North  Gate  of 
Shanghai,  on  one  side  only,  sixty -six  heads  and  several  bodies  are 
exposed  by  the  sanguinary  ImperiaHsts,  including  those  of  old  men 
with  white  hair,  besides  women  and  children.  .  .  .  These  terrible 
sights  are  now  so  common  that  they  do  not  upset  one  as  they  did  at 
first.  But  it  is  impossible  to  witness  them  without  feelings  of  intense 
abhorrence  for  the  Government  that  permits  and  even  perpetrates 
such  atrocities." 

Still  the  worst  was  over,  and  relieved  from  the  strain  of 
that  terrible  winter  the  missionaries  looked  forward  to 
largely  increasing  their  work.  Surely  now  had  come  the 
moment  for  advance.  Before  the  energy  of  the  population 
round  them,  a  new  Shanghai  would  soon  arise  upon  the 
ruins.  Thousands  of  people  would  be  flocking  in  to  share 
the  prosperity  that  enterprise  and  commerce  would  create. 


272  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

As  far  as  possible  they  must  purchase  land  before  it  was 
taken  up,  enlarge  their  schools,  open  preaching  halls,  found 
hospitals,  and  take  a  front  rank  among  the  builders  of  the 
new  time. 

All  this,  it  goes  without  saying,  stirred  the  hearts  of 
Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleague,  still  anxiously  waiting 
the  reply  of  the  Committee.  Three  months  had  now  elapsed 
since  their  plans  had  been  laid  before  the  Society,  and  com- 
munications that  had  crossed  their  own  had  not  been 
encouraging.  Old  objections  had  been  raised  against 
building  in  the  Treaty  Ports,  and  arguments  reiterated  in 
favour  of  opening  new  fields  to  the  Gospel.  But  how  they 
were  to  live  and  work  until  this  was  possible  the  letters  did 
not  suggest.  The  missionaries  themselves  could  not  beHeve 
that  this  point  of  view  was  unalterable.  They  had  stated 
the  case  so  clearly  that  its  importance  must  be  felt,  and  surely 
when  their  well-considered  scheme  was  laid  before  the 
Committee  it  would  be  seen  to  forward  the  very  ends  they 
had  themselves  in  view. 

Meanwhile  it  was  more  and  more  difficult  to  wait  on  in 
uncertainty.  The  American  missionary  who  shared  their 
Uttle  house  was  building  premises  of  his  own,  but  with  no 
hope  of  completing  them  before  summer.  Dr.  Parker's 
Letter  of  Credit  had  not  come,  nor  did  the  Society  seem  to 
remember  that  he  had  any  financial  needs.  If  their  priva- 
tions through  the  winter  had  been  severe,  what  would  the 
hot  season  mean — the  dreaded  months  of  summer — in  those 
crowded  rooms  ? 

When  all  these  circumstances  are  considered,  and  it  is 
further  taken  into  account  that  missionaries,  even  the  most 
devoted,  are  only  human  after  all,  it  will  not  be  wondered 
at  that  some  things  were  said  and  felt  that  hardly  seem  in 
keeping  with  Hudson  Taylor's  simple  faith  in  God.  He 
was  passing  through  a  period  of  peril  for  his  spiritual  useful- 
ness, and  was  under  the  influence  of  friends  called  to  a  Hne 
of  things  entirely  different  from  his  own.  But  though 
carried  away  for  the  time,  as  may  be  seen  from  his  letters, 
he  was  not  allowed  to  involve  himself  in  responsibilities 
that  would  have  hindered  his  life-work. 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  273 

"  You  are  going  to  have  a  fine  Chapel  in  Barasley  !  "  he  wrote  to 
his  parents  in  March.  "  I  wish  some  wealthy  friend  would  send  us  a 
thousand  pounds  to  put  up  our  hospital,  school,  and  other  premises 
for  we  are  in  a  shocking  position  now.  With  only  three  rooms  to  Uve 
in,  we  are  obliged  to  set  apart  one  for  callers  ...  so  that  my  bed- 
room has  to  do  duty  as  study  for  both  Dr.  Parker  and  myself,  and  I 
have  no  place  to  which  I  can  retire  for  a  moment's  privacy  from 
morning  till  night.  .  .  .  What  we  are  to  do  when  the  hot  weather 
comes,  I  cannot  imagine. 

"  We  have  written  to  the  Society  laying  a  definite  plan  before 
them,  and  if  they  do  not  take  it  up  we  mean  to  try  and  carry  it  through 
without  their  aid.  If  they  oppose  it,  as  contrary  to  their  principle 
of  not  working  in  the  Ports,  we  must  try  to  have  the  principle  modified. 
And  if  they  will  not  alter  and  we  cannot  find  other  better  means  of 
working,  it  may  become  a  question  as  to  which  we  shall  dispense 
with — the  Society,  or  our  plans  of  usefulness. 

"  But  you  need  be  under  no  apprehension  on  this  score.  Our 
plans  will  be  formed  with  prudence,  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  not 
without  seeking  His  direction.  But  useful  we  must  and  will  be,  if 
the  Lord  bless  us,  at  any  cost. 

"  Do  you  think  a  Bazaar  could  be  got  up  anywhere,  to  assist  us 
in  the  purchase  of  ground  and  erection  of  suitable  buildings  ?  .  .  . 
If  you  could  get  the  ladies  interested,  it  would  be  sure  to  succeed. 
The  sum  we  want  is  really  so  trifling  that  a  few  good  collections 
would  soon  raise  either  the  whole  or  the  greater  part." 

But  side  by  side  with  this,  which  one  cannot  but  see  was 
unHke  him,  went  another,  very  different  development. 
Strangely  the  currents  mingled  at  this  time — one  drawing 
him  to  the  settled  life  of  the  Ports,  the  other  carrying  him 
far  afield,  to  regions  beyond  any  that  had  yet  been  reached. 
He  could  not  even  wait  for  the  expected  reply  of  the  Com- 
mittee, so  eager  was  he  to  set  out  upon  another  evangelistic 
journey.  The  local  Rebellion  was  at  an  end,  Dr.  Parker 
needed  change  from  study,  their  boat  was  lying  in  the  Creek 
— was  it  not  just  the  opportunity  for  a  preaching- tour 
which  should  include  a  good  deal  of  medical  work  ? 


Fourth  Journey  :  March  1855 

Deeply  interesting  was  the  week  that  followed.     Leaving 
Shanghai  by  the  Soo-chow  Creek  they  travelled  north  and 

T 


274  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

west  to  the  county- town  of  Kia-ting.  Many  busy  places 
were  passed  en  route,  and  remarkable  openings  found  for 
the  Gospel ;  but  limits  of  space  will  only  admit  of  our 
dwelling  upon  the  visit  to  the  Hsien  itself,  where  a  novel 
experience  awaited  them. 

Accustomed  as  they  were  to  large,  excited  crowds,  they 
hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  it  when  grown-up  people  as 
well  as  children  fled  in  terror,  so  that  the  streets  were 
literally  cleared  at  their  approach.  Yet  this  was  what 
happened  in  Kia-ting.  No  one  would  venture  near  them, 
and  it  was  strange  to  see  people  of  all  classes  hurrying  to 
the  nearest  buildings  as  if  for  protection  from  imminent 
danger. 

"  Even  men,"  remarked  Dr.  Parker  with  grave  amusement,  "  took 
refuge  in  their  houses  as  we  drew  near,  hastily  shutting  the  doors  ; 
to  which,  however,  they  crowded  to  look  after  us  as  soon  as  we  had 
passed." 

So  strong  were  these  unreasoning  fears,  due  to  the 
"  bogy  stories  "  in  circulation  about  foreigners,  that  it  is 
doubtful  whether  any  entrance  could  have  been  gained  for 
more  favourable  impressions  but  for  the  influence  of  the 
medical  work.  They  were  there  to  heal  the  sick  as  well  as 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  were  wise  enough  to  put  it  in  this 
order  until  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  won. 

Realising  that  in  all  probability  they  were  the  first 
foreigners  to  visit  the  city,  Dr.  Parker  and  his  companion 
let  themselves  be  seen  as  much  and  as  openly  as  possible. 
They  made  it  known  that  they  were  physicians,  "  able  to 
prescribe  for  both  external  and  internal  complaints,"  and 
that  on  the  morrow  they  would  k'an-pijig,  or  "  investigate 
diseases,"  providing  each  patient  gratuitously  with  the 
appropriate  remedy.  This  seemed  to  turn  the  tide  of 
popular  feeling,  and  as  they  went  about  the  streets  and 
made  the  circuit  of  the  city -wall  they  heard  many  remarks 
as  to  their  being  shan-ren,  or  "  doers  of  good  deeds."  The 
crowds  that  followed  them,  still  at  a  respectful  distance,  so 
increased  that  shop-fronts  were  in  danger  and  the  goods 
exposed  for  sale  were  trampled  under  foot.  By  retiring  to 
more  open  parts  of  the  city  they  were   able  to  save  the 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  275 

business-people  annoyance,  and  at  the  close  of  a  tiring  day 
had  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  not  a  little  prejudice 
had  been  overcome. 

"Long  before  breakfast,"  wrote  Dr.  Parker  of  the  following 
morning,  "  the  banks  of  the  river  were  crowded  with  persons  desiring 
medical  aid.  .  .  .  After  working  hard  until  3  p.m.,  finding  we  could 
not  possibly  see  them  all,  Mr.  Taylor  selected  the  more  urgent  cases 
and  brought  them  on  board  the  boat.  No  sooner  were  those  attended 
to  than  we  were  taken  to  see  patients  in  their  own  homes  who  were 
unable  to  come  to  us,  and  were  much  gratified  to  find  that  we  had 
access  to  and  were  welcomed  in  some  of  the  very  houses  the  doors  of 
which  had  been  shut  against  us  the  day  before." 

What  a  turning  of  the  tables  in  favour  of  the  missionary  ! 
and  all  due  to  ointments,  pills,  and  powders,  prescribed  with 
sympathy  and  prayer.  After  this  there  was  nothing  but 
friendliness  as  they  walked  through  the  city,  and  they  had 
all  they  could  do  during  the  remainder  of  the  day  to  supply 
books  to  those  who  came  for  them.  In  a  temple  near  the 
West  Gate,  a  parting  address  was  given  to  a  large  concourse 
of  people,  many  of  whom  would  gladly  have  detained  the 
visitors.  But  time  and  experience  alike  warned  them  to 
leave  while  they  were  still  welcome,  in  the  hope  of  repeating 
the  visit  later.  Even  then  they  were  not  too  weary  to  land 
at  a  neighbouring  village  before  nightfall  and  seek  out  those 
who  could  read  ;  after  which,  travelling  slowly  on  till 
morning,  they  were  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  monotonous 
rhythm  of  the  oar. 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  their  journey  the  value  of 
the  medicine -chest  as  an  aid  to  evangelisation  was  still 
further  proved  in  a  variety  of  ways.  This  encouraged 
Dr.  Parker  not  a  little,  as  did  also  the  eagerness  of 
the  people  to  obtain  books  and  the  relative  number  of 
those  who  could  read.  At  one  important  city  the  mission- 
aries were  kept  busy  all  day  long  handing  Gospels  and  tracts 
from  the  boat  to  a  steady  stream  of  applicants. 

"  Never  have  I  seen  or  imagined,"  wrote  the  Scotch  physician, 
"  such  opportunities  for  giving  the  Word  of  Life  to  those  who  seem 
anxious  to  obtain  it." 

Amongst  others  who  came  to  them  in  boats  were  not  a 


276  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

few  scholarly  men  and  officials,  drawn  through  interest  in 
the  medical  work.  These  visitors  were  in  many  cases 
friendly,  and  stayed  long  enough  to  gain  a  clear  idea  of  what 
the  missionaries  were  teaching. 

In  his  report  of  this  journey  Mr.  Taylor  stated  that  with 
Dr.  Parker's  help  he  had  distributed  since  the  beginning 
of  the  year,^  three  thousand  New  Testaments  and  Scripture 
portions,  and  more  than  seven  thousand  other  books  and 
tracts. 

"  The  excursion  from  which  we  have  just  returned,"  he  continued, 
"  was  particularly  interesting  on  account  of  unusually  good  oppor- 
tunities for  seeing  patients  as  well  as  scattering  the  good  seed  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  for  the  illustration  it  afforded  of  the  scarcely  to  be 
exaggerated  value  of  medical  work  as  an  aid  to  missionary  labour.  .  .  . 

"  The  crying  need  for  a  hospital  was  brought  home  to  us  afresh 
by  cases  in  which  life  or  limb  could  have  been  saved  and  chronic 
diseases  relieved  had  we  been  able  to  care  for  the  sufferers.  ...  I 
sincerely  trust  that  funds  for  this  purpose,  and  instructions  to 
purchase  land  and  build  without  delay,  are  on  the  way  to  us  ;  for 
we  could  easily  carry  on  efficient  medical  work  without  interfering 
with  our  present  operations.  .  .  .  The  door  is  widely  open  and  no 
man  can  shut  it.  .  .  .  May  our  united  prayers  and  efforts  result  in 
abundant  blessings." 

But  though  these  accounts  and  others  of  later  journeys 
aroused  much  interest  at  home,  the  thousand  pounds  needed 
was  not  forthcoming.  Great  indeed  was  the  trial  of  this  long 
waiting  and  uncertainty  !  But  the  Lord  Who  understood 
all  that  it  meant  to  His  servants  did  not  leave  them  without 
tokens  for  good,  two  of  which  taking  the  form  of  financial 
help  were  especially  encouraging. 

Of  these  gifts  in  aid  of  the  work,  one  was  handed  to 
Dr.  Parker  by  a  resident,  and  consisted  of  fifty  dollars 
toward  the  purchase  of  land  for  a  hospital.  The  other, 
received  by  Hudson  Taylor  himself,  had  a  special  interest 
as  being  the  first  that  ever  came  to  him  apart  from  the 
Society  for  the  cause  so  dear  to  his  heart. 

And  when  one  records  the  name  of  the  donor — Mr.  W.  T. 
Berger  of  Saint  Hill,  near  London — what  a  vista  is  opened 

^  A  period  of  only  three  months  :    Januarj'-March  1855. 


I 


To  fatjce  p  Z76 


Parts      of 
KIANG-SU     &       . 

CHEH-KIANTG  PROVINCES 
to     illustrate 

M^ TAYLORS  EARLY  ITINERATIONS 


Stari/oTc(s  Gfiog^  Estah\han/djjn~ 


OUR  PLANS  OF  USEFULNESS  277 

up  into  the  province  of  God  !  Mr.  Berger,  a  frequent  visitor 
at  the  Tottenham  Meeting,  had  met  the  young  missionary 
on  one  or  more  occasions  before  he  sailed  for  China.  From 
his  friends  the  Howards  of  Bruce  Grove  and  from  Miss 
Stacey  he  would  hear  sufficient  to  awaken  interest  in  the 
Yorkshire  lad,  an  interest  Hudson  Taylor's  letters  from 
Shanghai  could  not  fail  to  deepen.  The  result  was  this  gift 
of  ten  pounds,  thankfully  appropriated  toward  the  support 
of  a  child  the  missionaries  were  anxious  to  adopt  ;  a  first 
step,  as  they  hoped,  toward  a  permanent  boarding-school. 

But  how  much  more  was  in  the  plan  of  the  Great  Giver  ! 
Could  Hudson  Taylor  have  foreseen  how  many  hundreds, 
even  thousands  of  pounds  would  come  to  him  through  the 
same  channel,  and  the  still  more  important  gifts  of  counsel, 
sympathy,  and  brotherly  love  in  the  work  he  and  Mr.  Berger 
were  to  do  together  for  the  Lord,  how  amazed  and  over- 
whelmed he  would  have  been  !  But  all  this,  and  far,  far 
more  was  being  brought  to  pass  by  Him  Who  even  then  was 
working  out  His  own  purposes  in  the  life  of  His  servant,  as 
in  our  lives  to-day. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

NOT  WHERE   CHRIST   WAS   NAMED 

Fifth  Journey.     April  1855.     Aet.  22 

Springtime  was  drawing  on  apace,  a  season  to  be  made  the 
most  of  for  evangelistic  purposes,  and  the  travellers  had 
hardly  reached  home  before  Hudson  Taylor  was  planning 
another  journey.  In  the  estuary  of  the  Yangtze  distant 
only  thirty  miles  from  Shanghai,  lay  the  great  island  of 
Tsung-ming.  Sixty  miles  long  by  fifteen  or  twenty  broad, 
it  was  the  home  of  more  than  a  million  people,  covered  at 
this  time  of  year  with  blossoming  peach -orchards  amid  a 
sea  of  early  wheat.  But  though  so  near  the  foreign  Settle- 
ment it  was  off  the  beaten  track,  and  had  never  yet  been 
visited  by  Protestant  missionaries.  Little  wonder  it  attracted 
the  young  evangelist,  about  to  set  out  with  Mr.  Burdon  on 
a  longer  itineration  than  any  he  had  yet  attempted. 

Fifth  Journey  :  April  1855 

Interesting  as  it  would  be  to  follow  them  as  they  crossed 
the  rough  waters  of  the  Yangtze,  ran  up  a  creek  on  the  land- 
ward side  of  the  island,  and  in  spite  of  alternate  deluges  of 
rain  and  overwhelming  crowds  carried  on  their  work  in  the 
capital  and  other  places,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a 
mere  outline  of  those  busy  days  to  dwell  more  at  length 
upon  the  latter  part  of  the  journey. 

Their  plan  on  this  occasion  was  to  penetrate  as  far  inland 
as  possible,  testing  what  could  be  done  in  a  good  many  places 

272 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  279 

rather  than  spending  much  time  in  any  one  ;    and  the 
direction  chosen  was  the  estuary  of  the  Yangtze  river. 

Tsung-ming  they  found  singularly  open.  In  the  chief 
city,  bearing  the  same  name  as  the  island,  they  spent  several 
encouraging  days.  All  the  principal  streets  and  suburbs 
were  visited,  and  in  four  large  temples  Mr.  Burdon  addressed 
the  crowds.  As  inquiries  had  been  made  about  them  from 
the  Ya-men,  they  felt  it  desirable  to  call  upon  the  Mandarin 
who  had  probably  anything  but  a  favourable  impression 
of  foreigners.  This  official  proved  to  be  a  grave  though 
rather  young  man,  who  received  them  with  courtesy.  He 
accepted  copies  of  the  New  Testament  and  other  books,  and 
listened  attentively  while  they  explained  their  contents, 
putting  before  him  the  way  of  salvation  through  faith  in 
Christ.  He  made  no  objection  to  their  visiting  the  island, 
and  very  thankfully  they  felt  that  this  interview  alone 
would  well  have  repaid  their  coming  to  Tsung-ming. 

The  temple  of  the  city-god  was  a  busy  scene  during  the 
remainder  of  that  day.  Mud  or  no  mud  the  people  came  ; 
and  while  Hudson  Taylor  did  his  best  to  attend  to  patients 
in  one  of  the  side  rooms,  Mr.  Burdon  occupied  the  crowd 
with  books  and  preaching  in  the  open  courtyard.  Only 
when  his  voice  gave  out  was  the  medical  work  interrupted  ; 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  audience  surged  over  to  the  im- 
provised dispensary,  and  no  more  doctoring  was  possible. 

Then  it  was  Hudson  Taylor's  turn  to  take  the  field,  and 
not  being  as  tall  as  his  companion  he  looked  about  for  some 
sort  of  pulpit  from  which  to  see  and  be  seen.  The  only 
place  that  presented  itself  was  a  bronze  incense-vase  of 
large  dimensions,  into  which  he  clambered,  without  appar- 
ently giving  offence  to  the  temple  authorities. 

"  At  the  lowest  computation,"  he  wrote,  "  five  or  six  hundred 
persons  must  have  been  present,  and  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  over 
the  mark  to  say  a  thousand.  As  they  quieted  down,  I  addressed 
them  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  and  a  more  orderly,  attentive  audience 
in  the  open  air  one  could  not  wish  to  see.  It  was  most  encouraging 
to  hear  one  and  another  call  out  .  .  .  puh-tso,  puh-tso,  '  not  wrong, 
not  wrong,'  as  they  frequently  did  when  something  said  rnei  with 
their  approval." 


28o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

But  when  it  came  to  distributing  literature  the  mission- 
aries had  a  more  difficult  task.  They  adhered  to  their 
principle  of  giving  only  to  those  who  could  read,  though 
many  illiterate  persons  were  bent  on  getting  books.  This 
rougher  element  in  the  crowd  gave  them  no  little  trouble, 
and  both  tact  and  patience  were  needed  to  avoid  an  un- 
pleasant scene.  Public  opinion  was  on  their  side,  however, 
and  though  some  tracts  and  Gospels  were  snatched  away, 
they  succeeded  in  getting  most  into  the  right  hands. 

Heavy  and  continued  rains  made  it  difficult  to  keep  on 
with  such  work.  One  whole  day  had  to  be  spent  in  the 
little  boat  shared  with  their  teachers — the  mat  roof  leaking 
all  over,  and  the  low,  windowless  cabin  affording  neither 
room  to  stand  nor  even  sit  in  comfort.  It  would  have  been 
useless  to  go  ashore,  for  streets  are  empty  and  doors  all  shut 
during  such  a  downpour.  Yet  a  few  people  waded  through 
mud  and  slush  to  get  to  them,  carrying  back  a  clearer 
understanding  of  the  Gospel  than  they  would  have  been 
likely  to  obtain  but  for  this  persistent  rain. 

Before  leaving  Tsung-ming  city,  one  interesting  morning 
was  spent  in  looking  up  the  principal  schools,  to  leave 
Christian  literature  with  both  scholars  and  teachers. 
Thirteen  schools  and  a  college  were  visited,  the  pupils 
varying  in  number  from  nine  to  twenty-five.  The  teachers 
were  in  many  cases  intelligent  men,  able  to  give  information 
as  to  the  chief  centres  of  population  on  the  island.  Followed 
as  usual  by  a  noisy  crowd,  one  of  the  visitors  had  to  stay 
outside  to  keep  the  excitement  within  bounds.  But  the 
other,  seated  in  the  place  of  honour  within,  had  a  com- 
paratively quiet  opportunity  for  laying  the  main  facts  of 
the  Gospel  before  a  small  but  influential  audience. 

After  this  it  was  a  comfort  as  they  went  on  their  journey 
to  fall  in  with  an  empty  boat  willing  to  travel  with  them. 
To  this  they  transferred  their  books  and  Chinese  helpers, 
which  gave  them  room  to  take  a  httle  rest  between  excur- 
sions on  shore  wherever  people  were  to  be  found.  One 
busy  place  named  K'iao-t'eo  had  an  unusually  large  pro- 
portion of  reading  men,  and  in  several  schools  and  temples 
they  were  helped  in  delivering  their  message. 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  281 

Rounding  the  north-west  comer  of  the  island  a  Httle 
later,  they  put  into  a  creek  in  time  for  a  quiet  talk  before 
nightfall.  It  was  a  beautiful  evening,  and  the  freshness 
and  silence  about  them  were  grateful  after  the  experiences 
of  the  past  few  days.  Scattered  homesteads  here  and  there 
stood  among  cypress  and  willow  trees,  the  park-like  country 
stretching  away  without  wall  or  fence  to  the  horizon.  Even 
the  grave-mounds,  usually  so  marked  a  feature  of  a  Chinese 
landscape,  were  few  and  far  between,  being  replaced  by 
simple  earthenware  jars  containing  human  bones.  A 
million  living.  How  many  millions  dead  ?  And  yet 
Tsung-ming,  as  far  as  they  could  learn,  had  never  before 
heard  the  glad  tidings  of  Salvation. 

"  We  went  back  to  our  boats/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor,  "  rejoicing 
that  we  had  been  privileged  to  bring  the  word  of  God  ...  to  the 
people  of  this  fertile  island.  ...  We  determined  also  to  sail  round 
it,  to  ascertain  as  much  as  we  could  as  to  the  facihties  for  missionary 
work,  and  to  leave  New  Testaments  if  possible  in  every  important 
place." 

With  these  ends  in  view,  they  instructed  the  boatmen 
to  proceed  next  morning  in  an  easterly  direction,  following 
the  line  of  the  shore.  But  this  to  their  surprise  met  with 
the  strongest  disapproval.  The  further  side  of  the  island 
might  have  been  beset  with  unimaginable  dangers,  from  all 
the  boatmen  had  to  say  of  it  ;  and  soon  their  employers 
gathered  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  keep  a  sharp  look- 
out if  they  intended  to  have  their  orders  obeyed.  Accord- 
ingly when  the  anchor  was  weighed  before  daybreak  Hudson 
Taylor  roused  himself  to  speak  to  the  men,  and  for  some 
time  watched  the  compass  to  see  that  they  kept  the  right 
course. 

And  then  a  very  Chinesey  thing  happened.  The  boat- 
men, alarmed  at  the  prospect  before  them,  had  made  up 
their  minds  that  the  east  coast  of  Tsung-ming  should  remain 
an  unexplored  region  as  far  as  they  were  concerned.  Opium 
was  a  necessity  of  their  lives,  and  in  those  out-of-the-way 
places  who  could  tell  at  what  price  it  was  to  be  had.  The 
foreigners  were  tired,  and  soon  would  sleep  again.  They 
would  follow  their  instructions  to  begin  with,  and  when 


282  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

all  was  quiet — please  themselves.  Accordingly  the  coast- 
line was  kept  well  in  sight  for  an  hour  or  more  ;  after  which, 
there  being  no  remonstrance  from  within,  the  boat's  head 
was  turned  northward,  and  with  the  help  of  a  good  breeze 
Tsung-ming  soon  faded  from  sight. 

Still  the  weary  missionaries  slept  on,  and  it  was  not  until 
they  were  nearing  what  is  now  the  north  shore  of  the  Yangtze 
that  Hudson  Taylor  awoke  in  a  double  sense  to  the  situation. 

"  It  was  no  use  then  to  be  angry  or  scold  the  men/'  he  wisely 
concluded,  "  for  they  would  only  have  enjoyed  that  the  more.  The 
island  we  had  left  was  already  thirty  or  thirty -five  miles  behind  us, 
and  we  should  have  lost  a  day  in  endeavouring  to  beat  back  to  it. 
We  therefore  entered  the  first  stream  that  presented  itself  .  .  .  and 
learning  that  there  were  plenty  of  towns  and  villages  on  this  island 
also,  determined  to  do  what  we  could  in  a  short  time." 

Tuh-shan  on  which  they  thus  found  themselves  is  not  to 
be  seen  on  any  of  the  maps  of  to-day.  Great  areas  of 
alluvial  deposit  have  long  since  united  it  with  the  mainland, 
where  the  city  of  Hai-men  now  appears.  At  that  time, 
however,  it  was  cut  off  by  water  ;  an  island  reproducing 
on  a  smaller  scale  the  natural  features  of  Tsung-ming,  which 
it  also  resembled  in  the  primitive  state  of  its  roads,  and  its 
wholly  unevangelised  condition. 

Inquiring  for  some  sort  of  conveyance  by  which  to  visit 
as  many  places  as  possible,  the  missionaries  found  the  only 
means  of  transportation  to  be  the  heavy,  cumbersome 
wheelbarrow  whose  strident  squeak  is  still  measured  by 
the  mile  in  almost  every  part  of  China.  Engaging  two  of 
these  vehicles  they  set  out,  their  books  on  one  and  them- 
selves on  the  other,  carefully  balanced  on  either  side  of  the 
wheel.  ^ 

A  couple  of  miles  of  this  laborious  travelling  brought 
them  to  the  village  of  U-kioh-shan,  a  place  of  a  thousand 
or  more  inhabitants,  many  of  whom  seemed  intelligent 
and  were  able  to  read.     Here  it  was  a  joy  to  give  their 

^  Should  there  be  only  one  traveller,  and  no  luggage  or  corresponding 
burden  on  the  other  side,  the  baxrow  is  simply  tilted  till  his  weight  is  well 
over  the  wheel,  and  in  this  seemingly  precarious  position  he  is  trundled 
from  behind. 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  283 

message,  and  it  was  not  until  many  books  had  been  dis- 
tributed that  they  passed  on  to  the  neighbouring  town  of 
Huang-shan. 

The  demand  for  books  at  this  latter  place  exhausted 
their  supply,  and  the  attention  with  which  they  were 
listened  to  made  them  forget  weariness  and  hunger.  The 
only  drawback  was  that  they  were  obliged  to  return  to  their 
boats  for  more  literature  before  proceeding  to  Hai-men 
itself,  the  capital  of  the  island. 

The  Sim  was  almost  setting  when  the  latter  place  was 
reached,  but  the  long  spring  evening  gave  time  for  a  good 
deal  of  work  in  the  principal  streets,  which  proved  to  be 
those  of  a  large  and  busy  city.  Here  to  their  surprise  the 
missionaries  were  taken  for  Chinese  from  one  of  the  southern 
provinces,  Fu-kien  men  and  probably  rebels,  which  roused 
a  good  deal  of  excitement.  But  when  Mr.  Burdon  explained 
that  they  were  from  a  far  western  country,  religious  teachers 
who  had  come  to  heal  the  sick,  and  bring  a  message  of  love 
and  pardon  from  the  one  true  God,  against  Whom  all  have 
sinned,  the  people  were  satisfied  and  listened  with  attention. 

"  Before  leaving,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  I  addressed  the  crowd, 
asking  if  we  should  come  again.  .  .  .  The  reply  was  an  eager  affirma- 
tive, and  many  wanted  to  know  when  they  might  expect  us." 

Candles  and  lanterns  having  now  appeared,  the  mission- 
aries set  out  on  their  return  journey.  Every  book  they  had 
brought  with  them  had  been  given  away,  and  ten  times  as 
many  might  easily  have  been  disposed  of.  Thus  their  visit, 
though  brief,  had  accomplished  something,  and  tired  as 
they  were  they  trundled  cheerfully  through  drenching  rain 
to  reach  their  boats  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  thankful  for  the 
openings  found  on  this  large  island  also.^ 

Before  daylight  next  morning  a  favourable  wind  and 
tide  had  carried  them  far  up  the  Yangtze,  and  when  the  sun 

J  Six  months  later,  two  wealthy  men,  brothers,  sent  a  servant  all  the 
way  to  Shanghai  to  invite  the  missionaries  to  return  to  Hai-men.  They 
had  obtained  books,  it  appeared,  on  the  occasion  of  this  first  visit,  and 
were  anxious  to  have  "  the  foreign  teachers  "  make  a  long  stay  in  their 
home.  Unfortunately  it  was  not  possible  to  accept  the  invitation  in 
person.     See  Chap.  XXVII.  p.  341,  footnote. 


284  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

rose  upon  a  cloudless  sky  they  found  themselves  nearing  the 
sacred  mountains  that  command  the  north  and  south  banks 
of  the  river,  just  where  its  estuary  narrows  away  from  the 
sea.  It  was  a  day  of  unusual  beauty,  and  their  voices  being 
sadly  in  need  of  rest  they  decided  to  make  the  ascent  of  the 
northern  range,  and  learn  all  they  could  of  the  he  of  the  land 
around  them.  Directing  the  boatmen  therefore  to  enter 
the  nearest  tributary  stream  and  await  their  return  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  day,  the  young  men  set  out  full  of 
expectancy. 

"  The  country  was  delightfully  fertile/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor, 
"  and  the  breeze  fragrant  from  blowing  over  fields  of  peas  and  beans 
in  flower.  As  we  approached  the  hills/  the  scene  became  beautiful 
beyond  description.  Of  the  five  summits  the  central  one  was  the 
highest,  crowned  by  a  fine  pagoda,  evidently  newly  painted  and 
repaired.  At  the  foot  of  this  hill  and  running  up  its  side  was  the 
T'ai-shan  t'ang,  a  Buddhist  temple  and  monastery  so  extensive  that 
at  a  little  distance  we  mistook  it  for  a  village. 

"  The  hill  itself  was  steep,  with  bare  declivitous  rocks,  and  soil 
sparsely  covered  with  grass  and  flowers.  The  ascent  was  by  means 
of  stone  steps  here  and  there  among  the  trees  .  .  .  some  of  which 
were  very  fine  and  had  seen  many  summers.  Varying  shades  of 
foHage,  from  the  deep,  gloomy  cypress  to  the  light,  graceful  willow, 
mingled  with  orange,  tallow, and  other  trees,  gave  a  lively  and  interest- 
ing variety  to  the  scene,  and  each  turn  of  the  path,  revealing  new 
shrines  and  pavilions,  only  increased  the  charm.  .  .  .  Anything 
more  beautiful  I  have  never  seen. 

"  Entering  the  temple  itself,  we  found  it  undergoing  repairs. 
Some  parts,  apparently  just  finished,  were  in  process  of  painting  and 
gilding.  Scores  if  not  hundreds  of  men  were  at  work,  and  from  the 
amount  and  style  of  the  decorations  the  expense  must  have  been 
and  will  be  enormous.  Strangely  enough,  nothing  could  have  been 
more  timely  than  our  visit,  for  the  day  happened  to  be  a  festival,  and 
thousands  of  persons  of  all  classes  were  gathered  to  join  in  the  cere- 
monies. .  .  .  Here  were  the  rich  and  learned  as  well  as  the  poor  and 
wretched,  here  the  gaily-apparelled  and  the  meanly-clad,  all  victims 
of  the  same  heathen  superstitions,  servants  of  the  same  master. 
Nothing  could  be  more  evident  than  that  idolatry  was  here  a  living 
system,  flourishing  unmolested  by  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  .  .  .  Here 
was  one  single  institution,  swarming  with  priests  and  those  in  training 
for  that  office,  its  idols  to  be  numbered  by  hundreds  ...  all  richly 

^  The  Lang-shan  group,  facing  the  heights  of  Fu-shan  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river. 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  285 

painted,  as  was  every  part  of  the  establishment,  and  gilding  in  pro- 
fusion lavished  upon  them.  Nothing  was  omitted  and  no  expense 
spared  that  the  eye  might  be  charmed  and  the  beholder  captivated, 
and  to  the  thousands  present,  no  doubt,  the  idolatrous  ritual  was  of 
the  most  imposing  kind.  .  .  . 

"  Ascending  from  height  to  height,  we  passed  shrine  after  shrine, 
and  everywhere  the  same  scene  was  repeated — idols,  priests, 
worshippers.  Heavy  fumes  of  incense  filled  the  air  ;  and  the  clinking 
of  cash,  as  the  passers-by  threw  their  coins  into  baskets  placed  before 
the  idols  mingled  with  strains  of  music,  the  buzz  of  conversation  and 
tramp  of  passing  feet.    Upon  reaching  the  summit  we  entered  the  halls 

connected  with  the  pagoda,  named  from  the  temple  T  ai-shan  t  ah, 

the  hideous  figures  of  the  idols,  seen  through  smoke  and  flames  from 
burning  paper,i  making  it  seem  like  ...  a  place  where  Satan's  seat  is. 

"  Turning  sadly  away  we  mounted  the  pagoda,  and  what  a  con- 
trast was  the  scene  outspread  before  our  eyes  !  Here  nature  seemed 
to  be  offering  that  worship  to  her  Creator  which  man  refused,  and 
with  surprise  and  delight  we  involuntarily  exclaimed, '  How  beautiful!' 
No  words  can  describe  the  landscape,  and  the  more  one  looked  the 
more  fresh  beauties  lay  revealed.  The  day  was  so  clear  that  with 
the  telescope  the  most  distant  objects  were  well-defined,  and  the 
brilliant  sunlight  threw  an  air  of  gladness  over  everything.  The  hill 
on  which  we  stood  was  between  four  others  .  .  .  two  on  our  right 
and  two  on  our  left,  presenting  innumerable  objects  of  interest  to  our 
view.  The  country  below,  covered  with  early  crops  and  tended  like 
a  garden,  was  of  the  brightest  hue,  owing  to  recent  rains.  Streams 
intersected  it  in  every  direction,  bordered  with  drooping  willows. 
Farm-houses  with  their  fruit  trees  and  neat  willow-fences,  cemeteries 
here  and  there,  cypress-shaded,  and  numerous  villages  and  hamlets 
dotted  the  foreground.  Beyond  these  lay  the  magnificent  Yangtze, 
fifteen  to  twenty  miles  broad,  its  great  northerly  sweep  looking  calm 
as  a  lake  and  bearing  on  its  sunny  waters  many  a  boat  and  junk  with 
graceful  sails,  some  snowy  white,  some  brown  or  black  with  age. 
Beyond  again  rose  the  '  sacred  mountains  '  of  the  southern  shore, 
crowned  with  their  monasteries  and  temples,  .  .  .  and  other  ranges 
of  more  distant  hills.  The  opposite  side  of  the  square  pagoda  pre- 
sented an  entirely  different  view.  There  to  the  north-west  lay  the 
great  city  of  Tung-chow  surrounded  by  a  populous  plain  ;  and  several 
little  lakes  shining  like  molten  silver  put  a  finishing  touch  to  the  beauty 
of  the  scene." 

With  hearts  greatly  moved  by  this  panorama,  they  stood 
long  and  silently — looking  out  as  Moses  over  the  promised 

1  Offerings  of  money  and  other  objects  made  in  paper,  expressly  for 
burning  before  the  idols. 


286  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

land.  Yes,  this  was  China,  seen  at  last,  away  from  the 
narrow  limits  of  a  Treaty  Port,  How  great  it  was,  how  far- 
reaching  !  And  here  at  their  very  feet  what  darkness, 
superstition,  and  sin  !  Shanghai  and  its  surroundings 
began  to  dwindle  in  importance,  in  view  of  all  this.  So 
many  lights  seemed  gathered  there — as  they  thought  of 
all  the  Missions.  After  the  appeal  of  unreached  Tsung- 
ming,  unreached  Hai-men — this  told.  It  was  a  sight  to 
change  a  life,  and  Hudson  Taylor's  life  was  changed.  From 
this  time  onward  he  swung  free  from  influences  that  had 
held  him,  returning  more  and  more  in  heart  to  his  earUer 
position,  his  first  sense  of  call  to  preach  the  Gospel,  "  Not 
where  Christ  was  named.  .  .  .  But,  as  it  is  written,  they 
shall  see  to  whom  no  tidings  of  Him  come,  and  they  that 
have  not  heard  shall  understand." 

Still  throbbing  with  great  though  imspoken  longings, 
they  came  down  from  the  pagoda  to  make  their  way  back 
to  the  boats,  when  in  one  of  the  courts  below  Hudson  Taylor 
was  stopped  by  a  priest  who  requested  him  to  bow  before 
his  Buddha  and  burn  incense,  with  the  usual  offering  of 
money.  Stirred  to  the  depths  he  could  refrain  no  longer, 
and  mounting  the  stool  he  had  been  desired  to  kneel  on  he 
addressed  the  throng  about  him  in  Mandarin,  setting  forth 
"  the  folly  and  sin  of  idolatry  and  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
which  passes  knowledge." 

"  When  I  had  concluded,"  his  journal  continues,  "  Mr.  Burdon 
followed  in  the  Shanghai  dialect.  ...  It  was  evident  that  we  were 
understood  and  that  many  felt  the  force  of  our  message,  amongst 
whom  were  some  of  the  priests.  When  they  saw  the  turn  things  were 
taking,  however,  they  requested  us  to  leave.  This  we  would  not  do 
until  we  had  finished,  and  when  they  began  to  go  away  themselves 
Mr.  Burdon  requested  one  or  two  to  remain,  that  they  might  reprove 
us  if  we  advanced  anything  contrary  to  the  truth.  I  believe  we  were 
much  assisted  from  above,  and  also  that  we  were  guided  here  by 
Providence  to  reach  these  multitudes  who  had  never  heard  the  precious 
truths  of  the  Gospel.  They  gave  us  the  most  patient  hearing,  and 
listened  with  remarkable  attention. 

"  Descending  the  hill  we  passed  some  stalls  at  which  we  purchased 
a  few  curiosities.  We  also  witnessed  scenes  the  very  mention  of  which 
would  outrage  propriety,  but  were  glad  that  we  had  thus  an  opportunity 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  287 

of  seeing  what  tendencies  these  Buddhist  festivals  really  have.  While 
such  iniquities  are  practised  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  on  the  very 
ground  belonging  to  the  temples,  who  will  say  that  despite  all  its 
moral  teachings  and  fair  outward  profession  Buddhism  is  not 
polluting  ? 

"  After  leaving  the  temple  we  distributed  the  Scriptures  and  tracts 
we  had  with  us,  and  feeling  sincerely  thankful  that  we  had  been 
permitted  to  bear  testimony  against  these  abominations  and  to 
dispense  the  Word  of  Life,  we  set  off  for  our  boats,  a  wallc  of  two  or 
three  miles.  It  was  not  until  we  reached  them  and  had  time  to  rest 
that  we  found  our  sore  throats,  which  in  the  excitement  of  the  day 
had  been  forgotten,  had  not  particularly  benefited  by  the  strain  they 
had  unexpectedly  sustained." 

But  tired  throats  could  not  deter  them  from  the  work  of 
the  following  day.  Their  purpose  now  was  to  visit  Tung- 
chow,  the  city  seen  from  the  pagoda,  whose  unenviable 
reputation  had  already  reached  them.  It  might  be  months, 
years  even,  before  other  evangelists  would  reach  it,  and  they 
could  not  bear  the  responsibihty  of  leaving  its  vast  popula- 
tion any  longer  in  ignorance  of  the  way  of  Life.  If  nothing 
more  were  possible,  they  could  at  any  rate  distribute  their 
remaining  Scriptures  within  its  walls,  praying  that  the 
good  seed  might  bring  forth  fruit  to  hfe  eternaj. 

"  After  breakfast  we  commended  ourselves  to  the  care  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  and  sought  His  blessing  before 
proceeding  to  this  great  city.  The  day  was  dull  and  wet,  the  very 
opposite  of  yesterday.  We  both  felt  persuaded  that  Satan  would  not 
allow  us  to  assail  his  kingdom  without  raising  serious  opposition  ; 
but  we  were  also  fully  assured  that  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  we 
should  preach  Christ  in  this  city  and  distribute  the  Word  of  Truth 
among  its  people.  We  were  sorry  that  we  had  but  few  books  left 
for  such  an  important  place.  The  result,  however,  proved  that  this 
also  was  providential. 

"  Our  native  teachers  did  their  best  to  persuade  us  not  to  go,  but 
we  determined  that  by  God's  help  nothing  should  hinder  us.  We 
directed  them  to  remain  in  their  boat,  and  if  we  did  not  return  to 
learn  whatever  they  could  respecting  our  fate,  and  make  all  possible 
haste  to  Shanghai  with  the  information.  We  also  arranged  that  the 
other  boat  should  wait  for  us,  even  if  we  could  not  get  back  that  night, 
so  that  we  might  not  be  detained  for  want  of  a  boat  in  case  of  returning 
later.  We  then  put  our  books  in  two  bags,  and,  with  a  servant  who 
always  accompanied  us  on  these  occasions,  set  off  for  the  city,  distant 


288  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

about  seven  miles.  Walking  was  out  of  the  question  from  the  state 
of  the  roads,  so  we  availed  ourselves  of  wheelbarrows,  the  only 
conveyance  to  be  had.  .  .  . 

"  We  had  not  gone  far  before  our  servant  requested  permission  to 
go  back,  as  he  was  thoroughly  frightened  by  reports  concerning  the 
native  soldiery.  Of  course  we  at  once  consented,  not  wishing  to 
involve  another  in  trouble,  and  determined  to  carry  the  books  our- 
selves and  look  for  physical  as  well  as  spiritual  strength  to  Him  who 
had  promised  to  supply  all  our  need. 

"  At  this  point  a  respectable  man  came  up  and  earnestly  warned  us 
against  proceeding,  saying  that  if  we  did  so  we  should  find  to  our 
sorrow  what  the  Tung-chow  militia  were  like.  We  thanked  him  for 
his  advice,  but  could  not  act  upon  it,  as  our  hearts  were  fixed.  Whether 
it  were  for  bonds,  imprisonment,  and  death,  or  whether  to  return  in 
safety  we  knew  not,  but  we  were  determined,  by  the  grace  of  God,  not 
to  leave  Tung-chow  any  longer  without  the  Gospel.  .  .  . 

"  After  this  my  wheelbarrow  man  would  proceed  no  farther  and  I 
had  to  seek  another,  fortunately  not  difficult  to  find.  As  we  went  on 
the  ride  was  anything  but  agreeable  in  the  mud  and  rain,  and  we 
could  not  help  feeling  the  danger  of  our  position — though  wavering 
not  for  a  moment.  At  intervals  we  encouraged  one  another  with 
promises  from  Scripture  and  verses  of  hymns  .  .  .  which  were  very 
comforting. 

"  On  our  way  we  passed  through  one  small  town  of  about  a  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  here  in  the  Mandarin  dialect  I  preached  Jesus  to  a 
good  number  of  people.  Never  was  I  so  happy  in  speaking  of  the 
love  of  God  and  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ.  My  own  soul  was 
richly  blessed  and  I  was  enabled  to  speak  with  unusual  freedom. 
And  how  happy  I  was  afterwards  when  one  of  our  hearers  repeated  to 
the  newcomers,  in  the  local  dialect,  the  truths  upon  which  I  had  been 
dwelling.  Oh,  how  thankful  I  felt  to  hear  a  Chinaman,  of  his  own 
accord,  telling  his  fellow-countrymen  that  God  loved  them,  that  they 
were  sinners,  but  that  Jesus  had  died  instead  of  them  and  paid  the 
penalty  of  their  guilt.  That  one  moment  repaid  me  for  all  the  trials 
we  had  passed  through,  and  I  felt  that  if  the  Lord  should  grant  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  change  the  heart  of  that  man,  we  had  not  come  in  vain. 

"  We  distributed  a  few  Testaments  and  tracts,  for  the  people  were 
able  to  read.  It  was  well  we  did  so,  for  when  we  reached  Tung-chow 
we  had  quite  as  many  left  as  we  had  strength  to  carry. 

"  Nearing  the  western  suburb  of  the  city,  the  prayer  of  the  early 
Christians  when  persecution  was  commencing  came  to  my  mind, 
'  And  now,  Lord,  behold  their  threatenings,  and  grant  unto  Thy 
servants  that  with  all  boldness  they  may  speak  Thy  Word  '  :  a  petition 
in  which  we  most  heartily  united.  Before  entering  the  suburb  we 
laid  our  plans  so  as  to  act  in  concert,  and  told  our  barrow-men  where 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  289 

to  await  us,  that  they  might  not  be  involved  in  trouble  on  our  account. 
Then,  looking  up  to  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  committed  ourselves  to 
His  keeping,  took  our  books  and  set  off  for  the  city. 

"  For  some  distance  we  walked  along  the  principal  street  leading 
to  the  West  Gate  unmolested,  and  were  amused  at  the  unusual  title 
Heh-kwei-tsi  (black  devils)  which  was  applied  to  us.  We  wondered 
about  it  at  the  time,  but  afterwards  found  that  it  was  our  clothes, 
not  our  complexions,  that  gave  rise  to  it.  As  we  passed  several  of 
the  soldiers,  I  remarked  to  Mr.  Burdon  that  these  were  the  men  we 
had  heard  so  much  about,  and  that  they  seemed  willing  to  receive  us 
quietly  enough. 

"  Long  before  we  reached  the  gate,  however,  a  tall  powerful  man, 
made  tenfold  fiercer  by  partial  intoxication,  let  us  know  that  all  the 
miUtia  were  not  so  peaceably  inclined,  by  seizing  Mr.  Burdon  by  the 
shoulders.  My  companion  endeavoured  to  shake  him  off.  I  turned 
to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  in  almost  no  time  we  were  surrounded 
by  a  dozen  or  more  of  his  companions,  and  were  being  hurried  on  to  the 
city  at  a  fearful  pace. 

"  My  bag  now  began  to  feel  heavy.  I  could  not  change  hands  to 
relieve  myself,  and  was  soon  in  a  profuse  perspiration  and  scarcely 
able  to  keep  up  with  them.  We  demanded  to  be  taken  before  the 
chief  magistrate,  but  were  told,  with  the  most  insulting  epithets,  that 
they  knew  where  to  take  us  and  what  to  do.  The  man  who  first 
seized  Mr.  Burdon  soon  afterwards  left  him  for  me,  and  became  my 
principal  tormentor,  for  I  was  neither  so  tall  nor  so  strong  as  my  friend 
and  was  less  able  to  resist  him.  He  all  but  knocked  me  down  again 
and  again,  seized  me  by  the  hair,  took  hold  of  my  collar  so  as  almost 
to  choke  me,  and  grasped  my  arms  and  shoulders,  making  them 
black  and  blue.  Had  this  continued  much  longer  I  must  have  fainted. 
All  but  exhausted,  how  refreshing  was  the  remembrance  of  a  verse 
quoted  by  my  dear  mother  in  one  of  my  last  home  letters  ; 

We  speak  of  the  realms  of  the  blest. 
That  country  so  bright  and  so  fair. 

And  oft  are  its  glories  confessed  : 
But  what  must  it  be  to  be  there  1 

To  be  absent  from  the  body  .  .  .  present  with  the  Lord  .  .  .  free 
from  sin.  .  .  .  And  this  is  the  end  of  the  worst  that  man's  malice 
can  ever  bring  upon  us. 

"  As  we  were  being  hurried  along,  Mr.  Burdon  tried  to  give  away 
a  few  books  that  were  under  his  arm,  not  knowing  whether  we  might 
have  another  opportunity.  But  the  fearful  rage  of  the  soldier  .  .  . 
and  the  way  he  insisted  on  manacles  being  brought,  which  fortunately 
were  not  at  hand,  convinced  us  that  in  our  present  position  it  wa^ 

U 


290  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

useless  to  attempt  such  work.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but 
quietly  to  submit  and  go  along  with  our  captors. 

"  Once  or  twice  a  quarrel  arose  as  to  how  we  should  be  dealt  with, 
the  more  mild  of  our  conductors  saying  that  we  ought  to  be  taken  to 
the  Ya-men,  but  others  wishing  to  kill  us  at  once  without  appeal  to 
any  authority.  Our  minds  were  kept  in  perfect  peace,  and  when 
thrown  together  on  one  of  these  occasions  we  reminded  each  other 
that  the  Apostles  rejoiced  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  sufifer  in 
the  cause  of  Christ.  Having  succeeded  in  getting  a  hand  into  my 
pocket,  I  produced  a  Chinese  card  (if  the  large  red  paper  bearing  one's 
name  may  be  so  called)  and  after  this  was  treated  with  more  civility. 
I  demanded  that  it  should  be  given  to  the  chief  official  of  the  place, 
and  that  we  should  be  led  to  his  office.  Before  this  we  had  been  unable, 
say  what  we  would,  to  persuade  them  that  we  were  foreigners,  although 
we  were  both  in  English  attire. 

"  Oh  the  long  weary  streets  we  were  dragged  through  !  I  thought 
they  would  never  end  ;  and  seldom  have  I  felt  more  thankful  than 
when  we  stopped  at  a  place  where  we  were  told  a  Mandarin  resided. 
Quite  exhausted,  bathed  in  perspiration  and  with  my  tongue  cleaving 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  I  leaned  against  the  wall,  and  saw  that  Mr. 
Burdon  was  in  much  the  same  state.  I  requested  them  to  bring  us 
chairs,  but  they  told  us  to  wait,  and  when  I  begged  them  to  give  us 
some  tea,  received  only  the  same  answer.  Round  the  doorway  a 
large  crowd  had  gathered,  and  Mr.  Burdon,  collecting  his  remaining 
strength,  preached  Jesus  Christ  to  them.  Our  cards  and  books  had 
been  taken  in  to  the  Mandarin,  but  he  proved  to  be  one  of  low  rank, 
and  after  keeping  us  waiting  for  some  time  referred  us  to  his  superior 
in  office. 

"  Upon  hearing  this  and  finding  it  was  their  purpose  to  turn  us  out 
again  into  the  crowded  streets,  we  positively  refused  to  move  a  single 
step  and  insisted  on  chairs  being  brought.  After  some  demur  this 
was  done,  and  we  were  carried  off.  On  the  way  we  felt  so  glad  of  the 
rest  the  chairs  afforded  and  so  thankful  for  having  been  enabled  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  spite  of  Satan's  malice,  that  our  joy  was  depicted 
on  our  countenances,  and  as  we  passed  along  we  heard  some  say 
that  we  did  not  look  like  bad  men,  while  others  seemed  to  pity  us. 
When  we  arrived  at  the  Ya-men  I  wondered  where  we  were  being 
taken,  for  though  we  passed  through  some  great  gates  that  looked  like 
those  of  the  city  wall,  we  were  still  evidently  within  the  city.  A 
second  pair  of  gates  suggested  that  it  was  a  prison  into  which  we 
were  being  carried.  But  when  we  came  in  sight  of  a  large  tablet  with 
the  inscription  Min-ch't  fu-rnu  (the  Father  and  Mother  of  the  people) 
we  felt  more  at  ease,  for  this  is  the  title  assumed  by  civil  magistrates. 

"  Our  cards  were  again  sent  in,  and  after  a  short  delay  we  were 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  Ch'en  Ta  Lao-ie  (The  Great  Venerable 


NOT  WHERE  CHRIST  WAS  NAMED  291 

Grandfather  Ch'en),  who,  as  it  proved,  had  formerly  been  Tao-tai  in 
Shanghai  and  knew  the  importance  of  treating  foreigners  with  civihty. 
Coming  before  him  some  of  the  people  fell  on  their  knees  and  bowed 
down  to  the  ground,  and  my  conductor  motioned  me  to  do  the  same, 
but  without  success.  This  Mandarin  who  seemed  to  be  the  highest 
authority  in  Tung-chow  and  wore  an  opaque  blue  button  on  his  cap, 
came  out  to  meet  us  with  every  possible  token  of  respect.  He  took  us 
to  an  inner  apartment,  a  more  private  room,  followed  by  a  large  number 
of  writers,  runners,  and  semi-officials.  I  explained  the  object  of  our 
visit  and  begged  permission  to  give  him  copies  of  our  books,  for  which 
he  thanked  me.  As  I  handed  him  the  New  Testament  with  part  of  the 
Old  (from  Genesis  to  Ruth),  and  some  tracts,  I  tried  to  say  a  httle 
about  them,  and  also  to  give  him  a  brief  summary  of  our  teachings. . . . 
He  listened  very  attentively,  as  of  course  did  all  the  others.  He  then 
ordered  refreshments  to  be  brought,  which  were  very  welcome,  and 
himself  partook  of  them  with  us. 

"  After  a  long  stay,  we  asked  permission  to  see  something  of  the 
city  and  to  distribute  the  books  we  had  with  us  before  returning. 
To  this  he  kindly  consented.  We  then  mentioned  that  we  had  been 
most  disrespectfully  treated  as  we  came  in,  but  did  not  attach  much 
importance  to  the  fact,  being  aware  that  the  rough  soldiery  knew  no 
better.  Not  desiring,  however,  to  have  such  experiences  repeated,  we 
requested  him  to  give  orders  that  we  were  not  to  be  further  molested. 
This  also  he  acceded  to,  and,  with  every  possible  token  of  respect, 
accompanied  us  to  the  door  of  his  ya-men,  sending  several  '  runners  * 
to  see  that  no  trouble  arose.  .  .  .  We  distributed  our  books  well  and 
quickly,  and  after  visiting  the  Confucian  temple  left  the  city  quite  in 
state.  It  was  amusing  to  see  the  use  the  '  runners  '  made  of  their 
tails.  When  the  way  was  blocked  by  the  crowd  they  turned  them  into 
whips  and  laid  them  about  the  people's  shoulders  to  right  and  left ! 

"  We  had  a  little  trouble  m  finding  our  wheel-barrows,  but  eventu- 
ally succeeding,  we  paid  off  the  chair-coolies,  mounted  our  humble 
vehicles  and  returned  to  the  river,  accompanied  for  fully  half  the 
distance  by  an  attendant  from  the  Ya-men.  .  .  .  Early  in  the  evening 
we  got  back  to  the  boats  in  safety,  sincerely  thankful  to  our  Heavenly 
Father  for  His  gracious  protection  and  aid." 

Thus  the  vision  was  clenched  with  suffering,  and  Hudson 
Taylor's  first  sight  of  the  great  unreached  interior  was 
immediately  followed  by  his  first  experience  of  danger  to 
life  itself  at  the  hands  of  those  he  sought  to  help  and  bless. 
What  could  be  more  calculated  to  deepen,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  tempered  his  life-purpose  ?  Love  first,  then  suffer- 
ing, then  a  deeper  love — thus  only  can  God's  work  be  done. 


/ 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

A  VISION   OF   HIS   LIFE-WORK 

Sixth  Journey.    May  1855.     Aet.  23^ 

The  joy  of  preaching  Christ  where  He  had  never  before  been 
named  had  now  laid  hold  of  Hudson  Taylor.  Of  the  five 
journeys  hitherto  undertaken,  the  last  two  at  any  rate  had 
been  over  untrodden  ground.  Both  with  Dr.  Parker  and 
Mr.  Burdon  he  had  found  willing  hearers  for  the  Gospel 
where,  as  far  as  they  could  tell,  it  had  never  yet  been  pro- 
claimed. It  was  a  new  experience,  and  to  the  young, 
devoted  missionary  a  great  experience,  weaning  his  heart 
away  from  other,  less-important  things.  Plans  and  hopes 
as  regards  settled  work  in  Shanghai  that  for  months  had 
occupied  him  began  to  take  a  secondary  place.  He  had 
tasted  the  wondrous  sweetness  of  bringing  tidings  of  the 
Saviour's  love  to  those  who  but  for  him  might  never  have 
heard,  and  this  henceforth  was  the  work  that  claimed  him 
more  and  more. 

Not  that  he  no  longer  wished  to  settle  somewhere.  The 
strain  of  such  frequent  journeys  made  him  increasingly 
conscious  of  the  need  for  suitable  headquarters.  But  he 
was  beginning  to  hope  that  it  might  be  away  from  a  Treaty 
Port,  among  those  who  had  no  one  else  to  lead  them  in  the 
heavenward  way. 

It  was  now  early  summer  in  Shanghai,  and  beginning  to 
be  hot.  No  answer  had  yet  been  received  from  the  Com- 
mittee as  to  the  plans  laid  before  them,  so  that,  as  far  as  the 
Society  was  concerned,  matters  were  somewhat  at  a  stand- 
still.    This  made  it  all  the  more  natural  that  Hudson  Taylor 

292 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  293 

should  be  drawn  in  the  one  direction  that  was  providentially 
open,  that  of  evangelistic  journeys.  His  fitness  for  this 
work  was  becoming  so  evident  that  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  was  willing  not  only  to  supply  him  with  as 
many  Scriptures  as  he  could  distribute  but  also  to  meet  the 
larger  part  of  his  travelling  expenses.  Thus  while  his  hands 
were  tied  in  one  way,  and  plans  for  local  work  kept  in 
abeyance,  openings  of  an  important  kind  were  not  lacking 
in  other  directions. 

"  I  hope  to  go  inland  again  in  a  few  days/'  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Pearse 
scarcely  a  week  after  his  return  from  Tung-chow.  *'  You  will  join 
us  in  thanking  the  Lord  for  His  protection  in  recent  dangers.  The 
Rebellion,  especially  since  foreigners  have  enlisted  themselves  on  both 
sides,  has  made  access  to  the  interior  no  easy  matter.  But  the  Word 
of  God  must  go.  And  we  must  not  be  hindered  by  slight  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  its  dissemination.  .  .  . 

"  I  trust  you  will  be  much  in  prayer  for  us.  We  have  many  trials, 
and  Satan  does  not  let  off  easily  those  who  attack  his  strongholds. 
Pray  that  we  may  be  kept  from  harm  spiritually  as  well  as  physically, 
and  that  the  one  intense  desire  of  our  hearts  may  be  granted,  that  we 
may  be  made  useful." 


Sixth  Journey:   May  1855 

Ten  days  at  home  had  barely  given  time  to  write  up  his 
journal,  attend  to  letters  and  prepare  for  another  journey, 
before  the  young  evangelist  set  out  upon  a  longer  absence 
than  any  he  had  previously  undertaken.  This  time  he  was 
alone,  and  with  growing  experience  was  able  to  strike  out 
on  lines  more  characteristically  his  own.  He  seems  to  have 
had  in  view  a  long-cherished  hope,  the  purpose,  in  fact,  with 
which  he  had  been  sent  to  China,  of  penetrating  inland  as 
far  as  Nan-king,  the  headquarters  of  the  Tai-ping  Rebellion. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  he  steered  his  course  up  the  Yangtze, 
exploring  the  southern  shore  with  its  principal  tributary 
streams  about  two  hundred  miles.  He  was  absent  altogether 
twenty-five  days,  during  which  time  he  made  known  the 
Gospel  in  no  fewer  than  fifty-eight  cities,  towns  and  larger 
villages,  fifty-one  of  which  had  never  before  been  visited  by 
a  Protestant  missionary. 


294  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Starting  on  May  8  he  did  not  reach  home  again  until 
June  I,  having  made  a  careful  investigation  of  the  openings 
for  such  work  up  to  within  sixty  miles  of  Chin-kiang,  where 
the  rebel  forces  were  established,  travelling  in  all  a  distance 
of  four  or  five  hundred  miles. 

It  was  a  lonely  journey  and  a  courageous  one  with  Tung- 
chow  experiences  fresh  in  mind.  At  any  point  he  might 
have  been  seized,  tortured,  and  even  put  to  death  as  a  rebel 
or  foreign  spy.  And  short  of  this  he  was  exceeding  the  most 
liberal  interpretation  of  treaty  rights,  and  could  claim  no 
protection  either  from  his  own  Consul  or  from  the  local 
authorities.  Serious  indeed  was  the  possible  danger  from 
excited  crowds  in  places  where  European  dress  had  never 
yet  been  seen.  But  these  and  all  other  complications  he 
handed  over  to  the  One  best  able  to  deal  with  them,  in  the 
consciousness  of  whose  presence  he  could  be  calm  and  free 
from  care. 

And  the  Lord  was  not  only  with  him  amid  those  lonely 
labours.  He  did  more  than  protect  His  servant,  and  supply 
needed  grace.  It  was,  if  one  may  say  so  reverently,  His 
opportunity.  And  He  drew  very  near  revealing  Himself 
and  His  purposes  as  He  only  can  perhaps  when  one  is  much 
alone. 

Long,  long  years  after,  on  another  journey — the  last  he 
ever  took  up  that  great  river — pacing  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  in  company  with  the  writers,  he  paused  again  and 
again,  looking  with  misty  eyes  towards  the  hills  that  here 
and  there  break  the  level  of  that  southern  shore.  It  was 
somewhere  near  Green  Grass  Island  that  he  said  at  length, 
"  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  about  it.  It  was  over  there. 
But  I  cannot  remember  just  the  spot." 

Seeing  him  moved  by  some  recollection,  we  waited 
silently  to  hear  more.  But  fifty  years  had  passed  since 
that  day — the  remembrance  of  which  still  brought  so  deep 
a  joy  and  awe.  He  could  not  put  it  into  words.  He  tried, 
but  could  tell  us  little  of  what  had  been  between  his  soul 
and  God.  But  there,  over  there  on  those  more  distant 
heights,  it  had  come  to  him.  Some  revelation  of  his  future 
work  perhaps.     Some  call  to  utmost  self -surrender  for  the 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  295 

life  to  which   the   Lord  was   leading.     And   its  influence 
remained. 

Time  would  fail  to  follow  in  any  detail  the  varied  activities 
of  this  journey,  but  some  idea  ol  its  general  character  must 
be  given.  On  the  banks  of  tidal  rivers  running  into  the 
wide  estuary  of  the  Yangtze,  the  traveller  found  himself 
within  reach  of  numerous  towns  and  villages.  The  more 
important  of  these  were  visited  as  he  worked  his  way  up  the 
main  river.  Here  and  there  cities  were  found,  and  busy 
market-places,  in  which  many  Scriptures  could  be  dis- 
tributed. But  in  the  countless  villages  between  the  reading 
population  was  small,  and  Hudson  Taylor  began  to  reahse 
how  large  a  part  in  the  evangelisation  of  China  must  be 
taken  by  simple  preaching  and  individual  instruction  in 
the  Truth. 

The  first  three  days  after  leaving  Woo-sung  were  spent 
opposite  Tsung-ming  Island,  where  the  boat,  overtaken  by 
a  storm,  was  nearly  wrecked  before  they  could  reach  the 
shelter  of  the  Liu  river.  Putting  into  this  stream  they 
found  themselves  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  city  and  several 
towns,  one  of  which  had  a  population  of  forty  thousand. 
Here  Hudson  Taylor  could  not  have  desired  better  oppor- 
tunities for  the  work  he  had  at  heart,  and  in  the  temple  of 
the  "  Mother  of  Heaven "  as  well  as  among  the  junks 
crowded  along  the  water-frontage  many  listeners  were  eager 
to  obtain  books  and  learn  more  about  his  message. 

His  journal  for  the  days  that  followed  spent  on  another 
tributary  stream  gives  an  impression  of  unremitting  labour, 
and  reveals  also  something  of  what  it  meant  to  be  alone 
amid  such  overwhelming  needs. 

Friday,  May  11,  1855  :  Got  oflf  at  6  a.m..  and  with  the  tide  ran  up 
the  Yangtze  till  we  reached  the  Pah-miao  kiang  or  Creek  of  the  Eight 
Temples,  which  we  entered.  Here,  after  seeking  the  Lord's  blessing, 
I  landed,  and  was  quickly  surrounded  by  sixty  or  eighty  people  who 
had  never  seen  a  foreigner  before.  To  them  I  preached  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation  before  proceeding  to  a  town  called  Liu-ho-chen. 
The  road  was  miserably  dirty,  and  though  the  distance  was  only  two 
miles  it  seemed  like  four  at  least. 

On  arrival  I  found  that  it  contained  a  good  many  respectable 


296  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

shops  and  intelligent  people.  As  usual  the  demand  for  books  was 
great.  .  .  .  The  population  of  this  place  cannot  be  less  than  twenty 
thousand,  and  they  had  never  heard  before  of  the  Word  of  the  Living 
God.  Here  I  distributed  many  portions  of  Scripture  and  tracts,  and 
would  willingly  have  stayed  longer  but  that  time  did  not  permit. 

On  the  way  to  the  next  town,  Huang-king,  I  could  not  help  feeling 
sad  and  downcast.  Wherever  one  goes — cities,  towns  and  villages 
just  teeming  with  inhabitants,  few  of  whom  have  ever  heard  the  only 
Name  "  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved." 
Just  to  visit  them,  give  away  portions  of  Scripture  and  tracts,  and 
after  preaching  a  few  times  pass  on  to  other  places,  seem  almost  like 
doing  nothing  for  the  people.  And  yet  unless  this  course  is  adopted 
how  are  those  further  on  ever  to  hear  at  all  ?  It  is  the  Word  of  God  we 
leave  behind  us,  living  seed  that  cannot  be  fruitless,  for  He  from 
whom  it  comes  has  said,  "  My  word  .  .  .  shall  not  return  unto  Me 
void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper 
in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

We  see  no  fruit  at  present,  and  it  needs  strong  faith  to  keep  one's 
heart  from  sinking  ;  besides  which  I  have  felt  a  degree  of  nervous- 
ness since  we  were  so  roughly  treated  in  Tung-chow  which  is  quite 
a  new  experience,  a  feeling  that  is  not  lessened  by  being  quite  alone. 
I  remember,  however.  His  faithful  promise,  "  They  that  sow  in  tears 
shall  reap  in  joy,"  and  "  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing 
precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his 
sheaves  with  him." 

Faint  and  weary,  having  had  no  food  since  breakfast,  I  arrived 
at  Huang-king  at  4  p.m.,  and  prayed  God  to  enable  me  to  distribute 
my  books  to  the  best  advantage  and  to  give  me  a  word  to  speak  to 
the  people. 

The  prayer  was  indeed  answered,  and  I  found  the  place  so  large  that 
had  I  had  four  times  as  many  books  with  me  they  would  have  been 
barely  enough  to  supply  all  the  applicants  who  could  read.  .  .  .  When 
I  had  finished  the  work  of  distribution  I  went  into  the  temple  in  which 
the  pagoda  stands  and  found  it  full  of  cases  of  newly-made  incense 
laid  out  to  dry.  Connected  with  the  temple  is  a  nunnery,  and  one  of 
the  nuns,  a  superior-looking  woman,  came  out  to  meet  me  and  seemed 
vastly  amused  at  my  costume.  People  followed  me  into  the  court- 
yard, and  when  some  hundreds  were  assembled  I  asked  them  if  they 
would  like  me  to  address  them  ;  upon  which  a  stool  was  brought,  and 
mounting  it  I  preached  "  Jesus,  and  Him  crucified."  They  listened 
with  the  utmost  attention,  and  when  I  concluded  many  asked  for  books 
containing  these  doctrines  and  eagerly  inquired  when  I  would  return 
and  bring  more.  I  could  only  recommend  them  to  borrow  from  one 
another  and  pray  that  God  would  enable  them  to  understand  and 
believe  in  what  they  had  already  heard. 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  297 

As  I  left  the  place  many  persons  accompanied  me  with  ever>' 
manifestation  of  friendly  feeling.  I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the 
contrast  between  my  arrival  and  departure,  for  when  I  first  entered 
the  town,  people  ran  away  as  from  a  wild  animal  !  ...  It  was  gratify- 
ing to  see  a  friendly  feeling  so  soon  established,  and  to  know  that  two 
towns  now  possessed  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  which  until  that 
morning  had  never  received  it.  As  we  repassed  Liu-ho-chen,  a  good 
many  people  came  out  and  we  had  a  little  conversation,  after  which 
we  went  on,  reaching  our  boat  about  8  p.m.  very  tired  and  ready  for 
dinner. 

Saturday,  May  12  :  One  of  the  hottest  days  we  have  had  this  year. 
Having  arranged  my  books  and  prepared  a  good  selection  to  take  with 
me,  I  set  out  to  visit  several  more  towns  in  the  neighbourhood.  The 
first  place  I  went  to  was  the  "  Dragon  Emperor's  Temple,"  a  little 
town  in  which  I  was  told  a  Mandarin  resided.  I  found  it  quite  a  small 
place,  consisting  of  a  few  houses,  the  largest  of  which  was  occupied  by 
a  Revenue  Officer  of  the  name  of  Li.  Calling  upon  him  I  was 
courteously  received,  and  left  in  his  possession  a  New  Testament, 
part  of  the  Old,  and  several  tracts.  After  this  we  went  on  and  in  due 
time  reached  the  "  Shrine  of  the  Chang  Family  "  (Chang-kia-si),  a 
town  of  about  four  thousand  inhabitants,  where  for  the  first  time  the 
Word  of  God  was  distributed  and  a  foreigner  seen  and  heard. 

At  first  the  people  were  frightened,  but  this  soon  wore  off,  and  men, 
women  and  children  seemed  to  be  intensely  interested.  Their 
astonishment  was  great  when  they  found  that  I  could  understand 
their  language,  and  it  was  most  amusing  to  hear  their  remarks  about 
many  things.  When  I  took  out  my  watch  to  look  at  the  time,  one 
grown-up  person  exclaimed  that  never  before  had  he  seen  such 
spectacles  !  Another  promptly  corrected  him,  informing  the  com- 
pany that  it  was  nothing  less  than  a  telescope  I  had  in  my  pocket, 
and  that  western  men  were  celebrated  for  making  them.  Upon 
which  a  third  chimed  in  :  No,  he  knew  better  than  that ;  the  wonder- 
ful object  they  had  seen  was  a  clock,  which  told  the  hour  by  striking 
a  bell ;  and  what  I  was  wearing  on  my  nose  was  a  telescope,  and  not 
a  pair  of  spectacles  as  some  had  ignorantly  suggested  ! 

A  short  distance  beyond  this  place  was  a  group  of  houses  looking 
like  the  beginning  of  another  little  town,  to  which  I  next  directed 
my  steps.  I  found  it  to  be  a  private  residence,  the  home  of  a  fine 
old  gentleman,  eighty  years  of  age,  who  had  formerly  been  a  Mandarin 
at  Soo-chow.  Taken  to  the  guest-hall,  I  noticed  over  the  entrance 
this  inscription,  "  Act  morally  and  you  will  obtain  Happiness."  I 
took  the  lowest  chair  of  course,  nearest  the  door,  but  in  a  little  while 
the  master  of  the  house  appeared  and  with  much  ceremony  insisted 
on  my  moving  to  a  higher  seat. 

When  I  offered  him  a  selection  of  our  books,  he  told  me  he  also 


298  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

had  books  to  give,  and  made  me  a  present  of  three  works  of  his  own, 
in  ten  volumes,  beautifully  got  up  and  treating  of  almost  every 
imaginable  subject.  There  was  a  little  astronomy,  a  little  meteorology, 
a  little  geography,  some  mathematics,  and  so  on.  But  he  said  he 
had  one  superlative  idea  which  he  was  delighted  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  imparting  to  me. 

Three  great  kingdoms  existed  in  the  world  he  said,  England,  Russia 
and  China,  but  his  discovery  was  as  yet  unknown  in  any  of  them. 
Confucius  himself  was  ignorant  of  it,  and  likewise  all  the  Sages.  In 
short  it  was  known  to  but  one  person — himself ;  and  he  was  now 
eighty  years  of  age.  This  long  prelude  and  the  importance  of  his 
manner  made  me  wonder  what  could  be  coming,  and  it  was  hard  to 
repress  a  smile  when  it  proved  to  be  that  the  sun  stood  still  and  the 
earth  travelled  round  it.  .  .  . 

This  gentleman  seemed  to  be  a  close  observer  of  nature,  for  amongst 
other  things  he  wrote  out  for  me  a  list  of  climbing  plants  arranged  in 
two  columns  according  as  they  turned  to  the  right  hand,  in  growing, 
or  to  the  left.  After  an  interesting  visit  I  went  a  few  miles  further 
and  found  another  town  (Teng-chow-si)  of  about  a  thousand  in- 
habitants. Here  also  I  distributed  Scriptures  and  tracts,  and  preached 
to  about  two  hundred  people  in  the  open  air.  Then  as  the  sun  was 
low  we  set  off  for  our  boat  with  all  speed,  but  were  caught  in  torrents 
of  rain  and  did  not  arrive  till  long  after  dark. 

Sunday,  May  13  :  Enjoyed  some  quiet  hours  of  reading  and  prayer 
in  my  boat,  after  which  ...  I  distributed  Scriptures  and  tracts  in 
the  Town  of  the  "  Eight  Temples."  Thence  we  went  on  to  the 
"  Shrine  of  the  Heng  Family,"  a  place  of  some  eight  thousand  in- 
habitants. There  in  the  principal  temple  I  preached  to  two  or  three 
hundred  people,  distributing  afterwards  many  Testaments  and  other 
books. 

We  then  made  our  way  again  to  the  "  Chang  Family  Shrine,"  and 
after  conversation  with  several  others  I  revisited  the  old  Mandarin 
seen  yesterday.  When  our  talk  took  a  religious  turn  he  made  the 
common  remark,  "  Jesus  is  your  Sage,  Confucius  ours,"  and  was 
much  astonished  when  I  told  him  that  the  Lord  Jesus  was  not  an 
Englishman  ;  that  though  born  a  Jew  He  was  no  mere  man,  but 
perfect  God  and  perfect  man  in  one  ;  and  in  proof  of  His  deity  adduced 
His  miracles  and  the  fact  of  the  resurrection.  He  told  me  he  intended 
coming  to  Shanghai  in  a  few  weeks  and  would  return  my  call,  promising 
in  the  meanwhile  to  look  into  my  books  and  desiring  me  to  read  those 
he  had  given  me.  After  this  we  returned  to  our  boat,  again  arriving 
long  after  dark ;  and  having  supplied  medicine  to  a  man  who  had 
followed  us  four  miles  to  get  it,  I  closed  another  Lord's  day  with 
prayer  to  God  for  His  blessing. 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  299 

Thus  he  worked  his  way  up  the  main  river  until  on 
May  15  the  hills  of  Lang-shan  and  Fu-shan  again  came  in 
sight.  The  temples  crowning  the  former  he  had  visited 
.already,  so  it  was  to  the  latter,  the  sacred  mountain  of  Fu- 
shan  with  the  city  of  the  same  name  at  its  base,  that  Hudson 
Taylor  now  turned  his  attention.  In  and  around  this  city 
several  days  were  spent  and  in  ascending  the  tributary 
stream  to  another  famous  pilgrim  resort,  the  city  and  hills 
of  Chang-shu.  Very  interesting  is  his  account  of  work 
done  in  these  places,  in  which  his  preaching  was  so  well 
understood  that  people  said  "  The  foreign-devil  language  is 
almost  the  same  as  our  own." 

One  more  Sunday  on  a  creek  still  farther  up,  and  the 
young  missionary  reached  Green  Grass  Island,  lying  in  the 
first,  great  westward  bend  of  the  Yangtze.  Here  on  his 
birthday  (May  21)  two  towns  and  a  large  village  were  visited 
and  the  Gospel  preached  to  many  willing  hearers.  As 
evening  was  drawing  in  he  was  taken  to  see  a  sick  person, 
to  whom  he  gave  some  simple  remedies.  The  news  soon 
spread,  and  before  he  could  reach  his  boat,  a  hundred  or 
more  people  had  assembled,  fully  half  of  whom  were  suffer- 
ing in  ways  he  could  reheve.  Tired  and  hungry  though 
he  was  he  gladly  set  to  work  to  dispense  medicines,  and 
before  supper  that  evening  had  treated  between  forty  and 
fifty  patients. 

This,  of  course,  opened  his  way  to  many  homes  and 
hearts,  and  the  rest  of  the  week  was  fully  occupied  either 
on  the  island  itself  or  on  the  mainland  opposite.  Of  the 
day  following  his  birthday  he  wrote  : 

Tuesday^  May  22  :  Left  the  island  early  this  morning,  and  after 
a  pleasant  sail  of  seven  miles  entered  a  creek  running  in  toward  some 
high  hills.  Here  I  landed,  took  as  many  books  as  our  bags  would 
hold  and  set  off  for  the  country.  On  the  way  we  passed  through  a 
small  town,  in  which  I  distributed  a  few  Testaments  and  other  books, 
and  was  as  usual  an  object  of  wonder  to  the  people,  who  had  never 
seen  a  foreigner  before. 

Thence  we  went  on  to  the  city  of  Yang-shae,  entering  by  the 
North  Gate,  and  distributed  a  good  many  Scriptures  and  tracts.  I 
then  addressed  the  people  in  the  temple  of  the  City-God,  but  the 
noise  was  so  great  that  only  those  nearest  me  can  have  heard.     After 


300  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

this,  and  a  walk  on  the  wall  which  gave  one  a  good  view  of  the  city, 
we  left  by  the  South  Gate  and  continued  our  work  of  distribution  in 
the  suburb. 

Though  only  small  in  size,  Yang-shae  might  well  be  called  a  model 
city.  Its  walls  are  in  perfect  repair,  not  a  brick  wanting  nor  a  battle- 
ment injured.  ...  Its  houses  and  shops  are  good,  its  streets  clean 
and  people  respectable,  though  they  can  make  a  hubbub  !  a  thing 
not  to  be  wondered  at  when  the  exciting  cause  is  remembered.  An 
Englishman  in  foreign  dress,  distributing  religious  books  and  preaching 
in  the  very  temple  of  the  presiding  deity  of  the  city,  was  enough  to 
upset  their  composure.  .  .  . 

From  Yang-shae  I  walked  out  to  the  "  Pebble  "  or  "  Grave 
Mountain,"  the  highest  elevation  I  have  yet  seen  in  China.  The 
view  from  the  top  was  very  fine.  With  the  aid  of  the  telescope  I 
counted  no  fewer  than  fifty-four  distinct  hills,  some  at  a  distance  of 
quite  as  many  miles.  In  an  easterly  direction,  north  of  the  Yangtze, 
rose  the  Lang-shan  group  with  their  pagodas  and  temples,  and  opposite 
across  the  river  the  heights  of  Fu-shan  and  Chang-shu.  South  of 
the  hill  on  which  I  stood  was  the  large  town  of  Hwa-shth  with  its 
pagoda  in  excellent  repair,  and  south-by-west  the  hill  and  city  of 
Wu-sih  on  the  Grand  Canal.  Southward  still,  quite  in  the  distance, 
were  the  mountains  near  the  Great  Lake  and  beyond  Soo-chow. 
Westward  lay  the  hill  and  city  of  Kiang-yin,  some  distance  up  the 
Yangtze.  To  the  north  Green  Grass  Island  was  well  in  sight,  and 
the  mighty  river  hidden  here  and  there  by  the  hills  along  its  bank 
,  .  .  completed  a  view  well  worth  the  toilsome  ascent  it  had  cost. 

How  long  he  stayed  there  in  the  v^elcome  silence  the 
journal  does  not  say,  nor  what  were  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  that  filled  his  mind.  It  was  a  wonderful  outlook, 
and  could  not  but  draw  forth  his  sympathies  for  the  great 
land  that  lay  beyond  on  every  side.  Was  it  at  this  time 
and  in  this  place  the  vision  of  his  life-work  came  to  him  ? 
We  do  not  know  :  the  records  do  not  tell  us.  But  he  was 
quite  alone,  only  just  twenty-three,  and  already  launched 
on  pioneering  labours  the  trend  of  which  he  often  longed 
to  understand.  It  was  an  occasion  at  any  rate  for  fresh 
consecration  to  the  work  and  to  the  Lord  he  loved  ;  and 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  in  view  of  needs  so  overwhelming, 
deeper  longings  and  more  earnest  prayer  would  rise  within 
him — "  great  thoughts,  calm  thoughts,  thoughts  lasting  to 
the  end." 

Certainly  many  of  the  principles  of  later  years  can  be 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  301 

seen  in  embryo  on  this  journey,  and  the  spirit  of  it  aU  is 
specially  characteristic,  read  between  the  lines  of  his  brief 
simple  journal.  Of  two  long,  hot  days  on  Green  Grass 
Island,  for  example,  he  wrote  as  follows  : 

Thursday,  May  24  :  Set  off  early  this  morning  with  books,  and 
spent  the  whole  day  going  from  house,  hamlet  and  village,  to  house 
hamlet  and  village.  In  this  way  more  than  a  dozen  schoolmasters 
were  supplied  with  books,  and  readers  wherever  they  were  found. 
On  this  island  the  towns  seem  to  be  neither  large  nor  numerous! 
The  people  live  mostly  in  hamlets  of  from  one  to  three  hundred" 
with  here  and  there  a  larger  village.  In  the  afternoon  we  reached 
one  place,  Nian-feng-kiai,  with  about  six  hundred  inhabitants.  Here 
I  finished  the  distribution  of  my  books,  and  visited  one  or  two  sick 
people  who  were  unable  to  come  to  us.  We  then  set  off  on  the  return 
journey  and  reached  our  boat  at  about  5  p.m.  very  tired  with  the  long 
walk.  Many  persons,  however,  had  followed  us,  wanting  medicines 
either  for  themselves  or  their  friends,  some  indeed  having  come  two, 
three  or  more  miles.  So  I  told  them  of  Jesus,  found  out  about  their 
symptoms  and  supplied  them  with  medicines,  removed  a  tumour 
from  a  young  man's  neck,  and  was  thus  employed  till  some  time 
after  dark.  Then  my  visitors  left  me.  I  got  my  things  put  away,  had 
some  dinner,  for  which  I  was  more  than  ready,  and  finished  the  day 
with  writing. 

Friday,  May  25  :  Saw  a  few  patients,  then  left  for  the  mainland, 
where  we  went  ashore  with  books  for  distribution.  After  supplying 
the  httle  town  of  K'ian-t'u  we  visited  not  a  few  villages,  and  put  the 
Word  of  God  into  the  hands  of  every  teacher  we  could  find.  Getting 
back  to  the  boat  again  at  6  p.m.  I  saw  several  patients,  after  which 
we  left  with  the  tide.  During  the  day  while  walking  from  place  to 
place,  tired  and  bathed  in  perspiration,  I  was  much  refreshed  in 
spirit  by  the  thought  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  doubtless,  had  often  felt 
the  same  ;  for  He  too  went  about  in  a  hot  country.  We  made  good 
progress  after  leaving,  wind  and  tide  both  favouring  us,  and  shortly 
after  dark  anchored  out  on  the  river. 

Yes,  He  too  lived  amid  crowds  of  sick  and  suffering 
people,  and  could  not  escape  dirt,  discomfort,  weariness, 
and  all  the  monotony  and  discouragement  of  a  missionary's 
lot.  And  He  knew  lonehness,  the  solitude  of  a  hfe  that 
had  no  sympathy  as  regards  its  deepest  needs,  its  highest 
aspirations.  Not  one  tear  you  shed,  not  one  pang  you  feel 
is  unknown  to  Him.     It  is  all,  every  ache  of  it,  "  fellowship 


302  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

with  His  sufferings,"  Does  not  that  transfigure  the  darkest 
moment,  rob  the  bitterest  humihation  of  its  sting  ?  Think, 
He  has  felt  the  same  :  and  to  all  eternity  there  shall  be 
that  closer  sympathy  between  your  heart  and  His.  He 
shares  with  you  something  deeper,  more  wonderful  than 
His  glory,  His  joy.  He  shares  with  you  just  all  that  these 
experiences  mean,  all  that  it  ever  must  mean  to  be  the 
Saviour  of  the  World  :  and  is  there  anything  more  sacred 
even  in  the  heart  of  God  than  this  ? 

And  then  the  Lord  who  knows  His  servant's  need  brings 
in  some  moment  of  relief — a  day  of  tropical  rain  it  may  be, 
when  it  is  useless  to  go  out ;  an  attack  of  illness,  giving 
time  for  rest  and  prayer ;  a  swollen  river  that  cannot  be 
crossed,  or  a  Sunday  in  some  quiet  spot  upon  your  journey — 
and  in  the  brief  respite  comes  soul-renewing  fellowship 
with  Him. 

Thus  it  was  for  Hudson  Taylor  the  day  after  the  above 
entry  in  his  journal.  Passing  the  extremity  of  Green  Grass 
Island  the  wind  turned  against  them  and  the  channel  was 
too  narrow  to  admit  of  tacking.  For  nine  hours  they  had 
to  wait,  the  wind  meanwhile  increasing  to  a  perfect  hurricane. 
Travelling  late  on  Saturday  in  consequence,  they  were  again 
obliged  to  anchor  in  mid-stream.  There  Sunday  morning 
found  them  (May  27),  a  lovely  summer  day  after  the  storm, 
and  who  can  tell  the  refreshment  to  the  weary  missionary 
of  a  few  quiet  hours  before  they  went  ashore  ? 

"  Very  much  enjoyed  reading  and  prayer,"  he  wrote,  "  in  my 
cabin,  and  felt  renewed  confidence  in  Him  who  has  brought  us 
hitherto." 

Whatever  may  have  been  his  intention  on  leaving 
Shanghai,  he  seems  to  have  felt  it  wiser  not  to  continue  his 
journey  much  beyond  this  point.  It  may  be  that  the  boat- 
men were  unwilling  to  venture  farther  up  the  Yangtze  on 
account  of  the  Insurgents  at  Chin-kiang.  It  may  be  he 
himself  thought  it  better  to  be  satisfied  with  what  was 
already  accomplished,  without  running  into  needless  danger. 
He  had  been  wonderfully  preserved  so  far,  and  was  now 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  home.     Three  weeks  was 


rate    JOURNEYS    V  &  VI . 


'To  face  p  302 


B  Relative  position,  of 
Chin.~hi<Lna 


ESTUARY   of  the    RIVER    YANG-TZE   to     Illustrate    JOURNEYS    V  i  VI 


A  VISION  OF  HIS  LIFE-WORK  303 

an  unusually  long  absence  from  a  foreign  Settlement  in 
those  days,  and  he  was  coming  to  an  end  of  his  supphes. 
He  distributed  his  remaining  books,  therefore,  in  Kiang-yin 
with  its  extensive  surburbs  and  in  a  city  seen  from  the 
neighbouring  hills  (Tsing-kiang) ,  and  on  Tuesday,  May  29. 
commenced  the  return  journey. 

Two  days  later,  about  midnight,  they  succeeded  in 
reaching  Shanghai  in  spite  of  serious  gales,  very  thankful 
for  renewed  preservation  from  shipwreck,  and  for  having 
been  enabled  to  distribute  in  peace  and  safety  over  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  Scripture  portions  and  tracts. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

EMPTIED   FROM   VESSEL  TO   VESSEL 
Including  Seventh  Journey.    June-August  1855.    Aet.  23. 

Summer  was  now  in  possession  of  the  Settlement,  and  it 
was  a  warm  welcome  Hudson  Taylor  received  in  more  ways 
than  one  on  his  return  to  Ma-ka-k'iien.  The  little  house 
was  still  as  crowded  as  ever,  and  there  seemed  no  prospect 
of  relief  for  this  season  at  any  rate  ;  but  grace  was  found 
sufficient  for  the  daily  needs,  even  when  these  extended 
into  long,  breathless  nights,  when  sleep  was  well-nigh  im- 
possible for  the  heat.  If  only  the  rats  had  not  been  so 
lively  the  nights  would  have  been  less  trying.  But  whether 
the  temperature  excited  them  or  not,  they  were  aggressive 
in  the  extreme,  running  all  over  the  room  and  even  jumping 
on  the  beds  in  their  nocturnal  carousals. 

Yet,  how  thankful  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  fellow-workers 
were  for  the  shelter  of  even  these  indifferent  quarters  ! 
Anything  better,  indeed  anything  they  could  live  in  at  all 
was  still  unattainable,  in  spite  of  the  reconstruction  that 
was  going  on  apace.  So  that  worse  than  staying  on  in 
those  three  rooms  all  summer  would  be  having  to  leave 
them  when  they  were  needed  for  reinforcements  expected 
by  the  L.M.S.  This  could  not  be  for  several  months 
however,  and  meanwhile  provision  would  surely  be  made 
for  mission-premises  of  their  own.  Hope  deferred,  they 
found,  was  but  poor  diet  for  cheerfulness  under  the  circum- 
stances ;  but  the  Committee  was  slow  in  replying  to  their 
communications  of  the  previous  December,  and  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  wait  on,  working  in  such  ways  as  were 

304 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL        305 

open  to  them  through  the  hot  season.  All  through  July 
and  August,  while  travelling  was  impracticable,  Hudson 
Taylor  carried  on  a  daily  service  in  the  Shanghai  dialect 
for  their  teachers,  servants  and  others  who  wished  to  join 
them.  This  opportunity  of  giving  regular  instruction  to 
the  same  set  of  people  was  a  great  joy  to  him,  and  all  the 
more  so  when  it  seemed  to  be  bearing  fruit.  A  sudden 
death  occurring  in  the  neighbourhood  from  cholera,  he  made 
the  most  of  the  opportunity  to  urge  the  importance  of 
immediate  salvation  from  sin  and  its  eternal  consequences. 
A  few  days  later  he  alluded  to  the  circumstances  again, 
asking  if  any  of  his  hearers  had  definitely  come  to  God  for 
pardon  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Pausing  a  moment, 
perhaps  hardly  expecting  an  answer,  what  was  his  thankful- 
ness when  Kuei-hua  the  young  cook  said  earnestly,  "  I 
have." 

This  open  confession  before  his  fellow-servants  meant 
a  great  deal. 

"  I  do  hope/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor,  "  that  he  is  under  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Though  not  without  faults,  he  is  greatly  changed 
for  the  better.  For  some  months  we  have  not  detected  him  in  false- 
hood or  dishonesty  of  any  kind,  which  is  saying  a  good  deal."  ^ 

The  school  meanwhile  was  also  doing  well,  though  their 
adopted  pupil  was  still  the  only  boarder.  On  his  return 
from  the  Yang-tze  Mr.  Taylor  had  found  a  room  to  let  in 
the  native  city,  in  a  quarter  where  no  missionary  work  was 
being  carried  on.  This  he  gladly  rented,  moving  the  school 
from  the  Settlement  early  in  June.  Now,  with  an  excellent 
teacher,  it  was  exercising  an  influence  for  good  amid  the 
large  population  of  the  South  Gate  and  its  busy  suburb. 

On  Sunday,  when  the  ordinary  routine  was  suspended, 
the  schoolroom  was  well  filled  for  a  Gospel  service,  and 
several  times  through  the  week  Dr.  Parker  came  down  to 
see  patients  and  dispense  medicines.  Both  there  and  in 
a  room  he  had  secured  across  the  river,^  the  medical  work 

^  This  young  man,  a  brother  of  the  pupil  they  had  adopted  on  the 
strength  of  Mr.  Berger's  gift,  proved  increasingly  satisfactory  as  time  went 
on,  and  was  the  first  convert  Mr.  Taylor  baptized  in  China. 

^  This  dispensary  and  "  outstation  "  Dr.  Parker  opened  in  May,  when 
he  had  been  about  six  months  in  China.  It  was  in  the  town  of  Yang-king, 
across  the  Hwang-poo  river,  a  few  miles  east  of  Shanghai. 

X 


3o6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

brought  large  numbers  of  people  round  them  and  afforded 
excellent  opportunities  for  preaching.  These  Mr.  Taylor 
supplemented  with  excursions  to  the  surrounding  country, 
often  walking  many  miles  from  village  to  village  and  preach- 
ing four  or  five  times  in  the  open  air.  All  this  in  addition 
to  language-study  made  it  necessary  somewhat  to  curtail 
his  correspondence  as  compared  with  the  previous  summer, 
but  on  Sunday  evenings  when  the  work  of  the  day  was  done 
he  still  found  time  for  letters  that  revealed  much  of  his 
inner  life. 

"  I  have  been  spending  an  hour,"  he  wrote  one  close  evening  in 
August,  "  in  happy  communion  with  Him  whose  wondrous  grace  has 
called  and  numbered  me  with  His  people.  The  more  I  see  of  myself 
and  the  more  I  learn  of  Him,  the  more  I  am  astonished  that  He  can 
ever  have  given  me  a  place  among  His  children.  It  is  only  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross  we  see  ourselves,  the  world,  and  God  in  the  true 
light.  .  .  .  There  alone  can  we  form  true  impressions  .  .  .  and  how 
far  short  they  still  fall  of  the  reality  !  But  I  must  conclude.  My 
walking  to-day  (about  six  miles)  and  three  services,  with  the  thermo- 
meter at  go°  F.  in  the  shade,  has  made  me  feel  worn  out." 

And  on  a  later  Sunday  :  "  I  do  indeed  need  your  prayers.  To 
work  on  without  seeing  results  takes  much  faith,  and  mine  is  so  weak. 
What  a  beautiful  hymn  that  is  of  Wesley's, 

Give  to  the  winds  thy  fears  ; 
Hope  and  be  undismayed  : 
God  hears  thy  sighs,  and  counts  thy  tears  ; 
God  shall  lift  up  thy  head.^ 

"  What  I  need  is  more  faith,  more  intimate  communion  with 
God.  .  .  .  We  can  impart  that  only  which  we  first  receive.  The  dis- 
ciples could  make  the  people  sit  down,  but  Jesus  must  bless  the  bread 
and  give  it  to  them  ere  they  could  break  it  to  the  multitude.  Oh 
that  we  may  be  much  with  Jesus ;  may  be  enabled  to  feed  many 
with  the  Bread  of  Life,  and  finally  have  an  abundant  entrance  into 
the  abode  where  holiness  ever  reigns." 

But  aU  the  while  he  was  carrying  on  this  settled  work 
in  and  around  Shanghai,  Hudson  Taylor  was  longing  to  be 
farther  afield.  Only  the  heat  of  summer  that  made  travel- 
ling dangerous  kept  him  so  in  Shanghai,  for  all  he  had  seen 
and  experienced  on  recent  journeys  was  calling  with  the 
claim  of  a  greater  need. 

1  Paul  Gerhardt ;  translated  by  John  Wesley. 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL         307 

One  itineration  indeed  had  been  attempted  since  the 
beginning  of  June,  which  though  cut  short  by  iUness  was 
to  have  an  important  bearing  on  his  future  as  well  as  on 
that  of  Dr.  Parker.  Accompanied  by  Mr.  Burdon  they 
had  set  out  on  a  preaching  tour  chat  was  to  include  a  visit 
to  Ning-po  for  partial  rest  and  change.  Missionaries  of 
several  societies  were  at  work  in  that  important  city,  and 
the  blessing  of  God  was  manifestly  resting  upon  their 
labours.  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleague  looked  forward 
therefore  to  much  help  from  this  visit,  far  though  they  were 
from  realising  all  it  was  to  bring  into  their  lives. 

Seventh  Journey  :  June  11-25 

On  the  way  down  to  Ning-po,  four  governing  cities  and 
a  number  of  towns  were  visited.  Forty  miles  south  of 
Shanghai  they  reached  the  coast  at  Che-lin,  a  deserted  Hsien. 
Pirates  swarmed  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  people  had 
taken  refuge  further  back  from  the  seashore. 

Next  day,  at  the  border  of  the  Cheh-kiang  province, 
Mr.  Taylor  separated  from  his  companions  in  order  to  visit 
on  foot  several  places  to  which  the  boat  could  not  take  them. 
This  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  climbing  the  Cha-pu  hills, 
from  which  an  extensive  view  was  obtained  over  Hang- 
chow  Bay,  with  its  beautiful  islands.  Reaching  the  city  of 
Cha-pu  some  hours  before  sunset,  he  preached  in  the  temple 
of  the  Mother  of  Heaven,  the  sailor's  special  divinity,  and 
distributed  his  remaining  books. 

A  comfortless  night  followed,  for  he  missed  his  friends 
and  was  not  able  to  get  back  to  the  boat.  Having  no 
bedding  or  luggage,  he  might  have  hunted  in  vain  for  an 
inn  that  would  receive  him,  and  it  is  more  than  likely  that 
he  and  his  servant  would  have  had  to  spend  the  night  in  the 
streets  but  for  the  kindness  of  an  elderly  woman  who  had 
\  compassion  on  them.  It  was  already  late  when  she  took 
^  them  into  her  house,  the  first  Chinese  home  to  welcome  the 
young  missionary,  and  glad  enough  he  was  of  the  rice-gruel 
and  straw  bed  that  was  all  it  could  afford. 

After  a  long  hunt,  his  missing  companions  were  found 


3o8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

the  following  morning,  and  together  they  spent  the  day 
in  preaching  and  tract-distribution  throughout  the  city. 
Cha-pu,  a  large  and  busy  place,  was  protected  from  pirates 
by  a  garrison  of  Manchu  soldiers,  and  the  trade  carried  on 
in  salted  fish  and  such-like  commodities  was  considerable. 
It  was  the  point  of  embarkation  also  for  Ning-po  and  other 
great  cities,  and  was  well  supphed  in  consequence  with  sea- 
going junks. 

Engaging  one  of  these  to  take  them  across  the  Bay,  the 
missionaries  went  on  board  in  the  evening  to  find  the  cabin 
they  had  expected  to  occupy  full  already  with  passengers, 
and  that  more  were  crowding  in.  This  was  disconcerting, 
and  it  did  not  mend  matters  when  the  captain,  siding  with 
the  majority,  declared  that  his  boat  was  a  passenger-boat, 
although  the  missionary  party  had  paid  for  all  the  accom- 
modation. Finally  a  compromise  was  arranged.  As  many 
as  could  find  room  enough  to  lie  down  were  allowed  to 
remain,  including  the  foreigners,  and  the  rest  were  turned 
away  without  compunction.  It  was  Hudson  Taylor's 
first  night  on  a  passenger-boat — first  of  so  many  ! 

Starting  at  midnight,  they  found  themselves  at  Ha-pu 
the  following  morning,  and  all  that  day  was  spent  in  rowing 
up  one  of  the  many  streams  by  which  Ning-po  is  reached. 
Twilight  fell  upon  the  guardian  hills  as  the  travellers  made 
their  way  through  the  multitudinous  craft  that  line  the 
chief  approaches  to  the  city,  and  from  the  darkness  of  the 
narrow  streets  it  was  good  to  be  welcomed  in  the  hospitable 
mission-house  to  which  Mr.  Burdon  led  the  way. 

Here  as  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cobbold  the  next  few 
days  were  spent,  days  which  to  the  visitors  were  full  of 
interest,  introducing  them  to  a  peculiarly  united  community 
in  which  they  were  received  with  great  kindness.  Eleven 
foreigners  in  all  represented  several  English  and  American 
Societies,  and  there  was  in  addition  an  excellent  school 
carried  on  by  a  lady  of  independent  means, ^  assisted  by 

1  Miss  Aldersey,  an  English  lady  who  six  years  before  China  was  opened 
to  the  residence  of  foreigners  had  settled  in  Java  to  work  among  Chinese 
women  there.  After  the  Treaty  of  Nanking  in  1842  she  was  the  first  to 
commence  a  school  for  girls  on  Chinese  soil — coming  to  Ning-po  in  1843  as 
one  of  the  pioneer  missionaries  to  settle  in  that  city. 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL        309 

the  orphan  daughters  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dyer.  His  had 
been  a  much-loved  name  among  the  earliest  group  of 
missionaries  to  the  Chinese,  and  these  young  ladies  though 
only  eighteen  and  twenty  years  of  age  were  already  fluent 
in  the  language  and  very  useful  in  the  work  to  which  their 
lives  were  given. 

One  thing  only  seemed  lacking  to  the  all-round  develop- 
ment of  the  Ning-po  Missions.  There  was  no  hospital. 
The  missionaries  felt  this  drawback  keenly,  and  as  they 
came  to  know  something  of  Dr.  Parker  a  new  hope  sprang 
up  which  resulted  in  a  unanimous  invitation  to  the  Scotch 
physician  to  join  them.  But  this  was  not  until  he  and  his 
companions  had  returned  to  Shanghai,  greatly  benefited 
by  their  change,  and  hnked  for  the  future,  little  as  they 
suspected  it,  with  lives  in  Ning-po  that  had  touched  their 
own. 

The  return  journey  was  to  have  been  given  to  further 
evangelisation  ;  but  hardly  had  they  left  the  city  when  a 
messenger  overtook  them,  bringing  news  of  the  serious 
illness  of  Mr.  Burdon's  only  child.  It  was  not  yet  a  year 
since  the  young  mother  had  been  taken,  and  the  thought 
of  the  little  one  suffering  and  perhaps  dying  in  his  absence 
was  too  much  for  the  father's  heart.  He  felt  he  must 
hasten  back  at  once,  and  his  friends  decided  to  accompany 
him.  It  was  well  they  did,  for  Hudson  Taylor  had  already 
been  very  poorly  in  Ning-po,  and  further  illness  was  only 
warded  off  until  Shanghai  was  reached,  showing  that  he 
was  in  no  condition  for  travelling  during  the  hot  season. 

The  next  two  months  were  spent,  therefore,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  and  around  the  Settlement.  But  though  this 
temporary  work  was  encouraging  and  full  of  promise,  it 
was  accompanied  by  no  little  trial  as  to  their  position  and 
prospects.  Gradually  it  was  becoming  evident  that  the 
Society  was  not  prepared  to  endorse  their  suggestion  with 
regard  to  mission  headquarters  in  any  of  the  Treaty  Ports. 
It  was  a  matter  of  principle  with  the  Committee  not  to 
put  money  into  bricks  and  mortar,  even  though  it  seemed 
that  their  representatives  could  be  housed  in  no  other  way. 


310  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

But  their  veto  upon  the  carefully  thought-out  scheme  laid 
before  them  did  not  come  all  at  once  ;  and  meanwhile  the 
far-away  missionaries  were  not  forgotten  by  Him  who  sees 
the  end  from  the  beginning. 

It  is  easy  enough  now  for  us  to  realise  that  the  Shanghai 
idea,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned,  was  a  mistaken  one,  but 
it  was  anything  but  easy  for  them.  Dr.  Parker  had  not 
yet  received  the  invitation  to  Ning-po,  and  Hudson  Taylor, 
eager  though  he  was  to  go  inland,  knew  all  too  well  the 
seriousness  of  such  an  undertaking  and  the  need  for  a  good 
home  base. 

"  It  is  hard  to  be  ever  on  the  move,"  he  had  written  to  his  sister 
after  their  return  from  Ning-po/  "  and  to  have  no  settled  dwelling. 
I  have  some  thought  of  buying  a  set  of  Chinese  garments  soon,  and 
seeing  how  I  could  get  on  with  them.  If  I  could  get  a  little  place 
somewhere  in  the  interior,  perhaps  I  might  settle  down  and  be  useful. 
As  things  are  at  present,  we  cannot  hope  to  see  much  fruit — for  we 
have  no  station,  no  chapel,  no  hospital,  no  house  even  of  our  own.  .  ,  . 

"The  future  is  in  the  hands  of  God.  .  .  .  There  we  must  leave 
it.  .  .  .  Pray  for  me,  for  I  am  very  weak  and  unworthy,  and  have 
been  a  good  deal  tried  of  late." 

And  no  wonder,  when  one  considers  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  living,  and  the  exhausting  heat  of  summer  ! 
But  the  point  specially  worthy  of  notice  is  the  changed 
attitude  of  the  writer  since  his  last  letter  on  the  subject 
three  months  previously.^  Then  it  had  been — Our  plans 
are  laid  before  the  Society  :  if  they  do  nothing,  we  mean 
to  try  and  carry  them  out  ourselves  :  if  they  oppose,  it 
may  become  a  question  as  to  which  we  shall  dispense  with, 
the  Society,  or  our  plans  of  usefulness.  Now  it  was  — 
Chinese  dress,  a  little  place  somewhere  in  the  interior,  and, 
above  all,  a  future  left  in  the  hands  of  God.  How  great  a 
difference  !  The  Lord  had  had  time  to  work.  And  as 
always  in  His  providence,  the  moulding  force  came  not  only 
from  outward  circumstances,  but  from  the  development  of 
His  life  within. 

Do  we  not   need   to   remind  ourselves  in   these   days, 

^  In  a  letter  dated  June  28,  1855. 
2  SeeChap.  XXI.p.  273. 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL        311 

especially  in  connection  with  His  service,  of  the  danger  of 
impatience  and  taking  things  too  much  into  our  own  hands  ? 
If  we  are  really  waiting  on  God  and  doing  His  will,  hin- 
drances that  are  not  removed  are  safeguards,  keeping  us 
from  mistaken  courses,  and  bringing  about  the  preparation 
of  spirit  necessary  in  ourselves  before  His  best  can  be 
given. 

It  does  not  always  seem  so.  How  little  could  Hudson 
Taylor  have  imagined  that,  even  before  the  answer  to  those 
January  letters  could  be  received,  his  own  outlook  would 
be  so  changed  that  he  would  no  longer  cling  to  what  had 
then  seemed  desirable  ?  How  little  could  Dr.  Parker  have 
foreseen  that  before  summer  was  over  he  would  be  called 
to  a  more  important  and  congenial  sphere  ?  And  how 
little  can  we  tell  all  we  are  being  delivered  from  by  our  very 
limitations,  or  the  wider  service  to  which  the  Lord  is  leading 
in  ways  beyond  our  ken  ?  So  let  us  thank  God  from  our 
hearts  for  trials  that  are  not  removed,  though  brought  before 
Him  in  believing  prayer,  and  praise  Him  for  answers  that 
seem  long  in  coming,  knowing  the  delay  is  needed  to  make 
us  ready  to  receive  them. 

Thus  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleague  were  being 
really  led  of  God,  though  August  only  seemed  to  bring  a 
climax  to  their  difficulties.  What  was  the  Lord's  guidance 
in  it  all  ?     That  was  the  question. 

"  Many  reasons/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor/  "  make  me  desire  to  go 
to  Ning-po  with  the  Parkers,  but  there  are  also  many  against  it.  There 
are  already  fourteen  missionaries  there,  .  .  .  and  they  are  working 
the  field  well  and  in  much  peace  and  unity.  Shanghai  is  not  nearly 
so  well  worked,  with  more  than  double  the  number  of  missionaries. 
The  Ning-po  dialect,  I  must  confess,  is  no  attraction,  though  once 
learned  it  would  no  doubt  increase  my  opportunities  of  usefulness. 
There  may  be  something  of  laziness  in  it,  but  I  do  feel  this  is  an  objec- 
tion against  going  to  a  new  district.  .  .  .  Expenses  are  less  there 
than  in  Shanghai.  If  I  stay  here  I  shall  certainly  have  to  move,  for 
our  co-tenants  are  leaving  in  about  a  month  (their  new  house  is  just 
finished),  and  the  whole  rent  of  these  premises  would  be  far  more 
than  I  can  afford. 

"  So  you  see  that  I  am  as  unsettled  as  to  my  future  prospects  as 

1  A  letter  to  his  parents  dated  July  24,  i«55- 


312  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

the  first  day  I  landed  in  China.  I  am  waiting  on  the  Lord  for  guidance. 
Meanwhile,  my  thought  is  to  stay  on  here  in  Shanghai  if  possible,  at 
any  rate  for  the  present.  I  feel  as  if  my  work  here  were  not  done. 
But  eventually  I  may  go  to  Ning-po,  if  my  efforts  to  obtain  a  footing 
in  the  interior  should  fail  in  this  district.  It  does  seem  as  if  I  never 
should  be  settled  !  I  do  long  for  a  helpful  companion  with  whom  I 
could  take  counsel  and  have  real  sympathy  of  mind  and  feeling,  and 
to  be  fixed  somewhere  in  good,  regular  work." 

But  there  was  something  more  important  still,  if  his 
prayers  for  usefulness  were  to  be  answered  as  fully  as  the 
Lord  was  able  and  willing  to  answer  them.  Moab,  we  are 
told,  was  "  at  ease  from  his  youth,  .  .  .  settled  on  his 
lees,  .  .  .  not  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel  " — a  poor, 
inferior  quality  of  wine  of  which  nothing  could  be  made. 
"  Therefore,  his  taste  remained  in  him  and  his  scent  is  not 
changed."  ^  But  the  life  that  was  to  be  made  a  blessing 
the  wide  world  over  must  pass  through  a  very  different 
process,  including  much  of  that  emptying  and  re-emptying 
"  from  vessel  to  vessel,"  so  painful  to  the  lower  nature, 
from  which  we  are  being  refined. 

Leave  to  His  sovereign  sway 

To  choose  and  to  command  ; 
So  shaft  thou  wondering  own  His  way. 

How  wise,  how  strong  His  hand. 

Far,  far  above  thy  thought 

His  counsel  shall  appear. 
When  fully  He  the  work  hath  wrought 

That  caused  thy  needless  fear. 

It  was  August  6  when  the  long-expected  came  at  length, 
and  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleague  received  notice  that 
the  house  they  were  occupying  must  be  vacated  by  the  end 
of  September.  Two  new  missionaries  were  on  the  way 
from  England  and  would  require  the  premises. 

And  just  then,  strangely  enough,  further  letters  from 
their  own  Committee  put  a  final  veto  upon  their  plans  for 
Shanghai  as  a  permanent  centre.  No,  they  were  not  to 
build,  though  permission  was  given  Dr.  Parker  to  rent  rooms 
for  a  dispensary.     How  or  where  they  were  to  live  was  left 

1  Jeremiah  xlviii.  ii. 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL       313 

a  matter  of  uncertainty,  the  Committee  apparently  having 
no  suggestion  to  make.^  Well  was  it  for  the  much-tried 
missionaries  that  the  Lord  had  not  overlooked  this  im- 
portant detail,  but  was  caring  for  His  workers  as  well  as 
for  the  best  interests  of  His  work. 

Another  letter,  also  received  early  in  August,  gave  full 
proof  of  this.  Several  weeks  previously  the  unanimous 
invitation  of  the  missionaries  in  Ning-po  had  reached  Dr. 
Parker,  earnestly  requesting  that  he  would  go  and  settle 
among  them.  He  had  replied  that  he  could  not  feel  justified 
in  doing  so  unless  assured  that  it  would  open  to  him  a  wider 
door  of  usefulness.  Foi  a  home  and  practice  of  his  own,  no 
matter  how  attractive,  he  could  not  sacrifice  missionary 
work.  But  if  in  connection  with  such  a  position  he  could 
see  his  way  to  the  support  of  a  hospital  for  the  Chinese, 
the  expense  of  which  would  be  at  least  eight  hundred 
dollars  per  annum,  the  matter  might  look  very  different. 
And  now  the  answer  reached  him.  Just  when  he  was 
ready  for  it — eight  months  in  the  country  having  given 
him  some  familiarity  with  the  people  and  language — then, 
and  not  before,  the  opening  came  that  was  to  determine 
his  life-work. 

"  You  will  be  glad,  I  am  sure,  to  learn/'  he  wrote  to  his  Committee 

on  August  22,  "  that  the  friends  in  Ning-po  have  become  surety  for 
the  amount  required,  and  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  a  missionary 
hospital  there — the  only  Treaty  Port  without  one. 

"  This,  of  course,  shuts  me  up  to  taking  this  step,  unless  I  set  at 
nought  the  plain  indications  of  Providence.  And  as  I  believe  it  to 
be  God's  will,  I  have  resolved  to  go,  and  to  do  so  at  once." 

The  resolution  come  to  thus  opportunely,  while  it  cleared 
the  way  for  Dr.  Parker  and  his  family,  only  left  Hudson 
Taylor  the  more  cast  upon  God.  Now  he  would  be  lonely 
indeed,  bereft  of  companionship  as  well  as  home.     Feeling, 

1  On  September  7,  writing  to  his  mother,  Hudson  Taylor  alluded  to 
their  disappointment  as  follows  : 

"  The  hospital  project  for  here,  as  you  will  see,  is  over.  The  Society's 
objection  is  not,  '  We  cannot  do  it.'  .  .  .  Had  that  been  all,  I  believe  we 
here  could.  But  they  say,  '  Our  professed  intentions  are  not  to  work  in 
the  five  Ports,  but  in  the  interior.  We  do  not  wish  our  representatives 
to  spend  money  in  Shanghai.'  " 


314  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

as  he  did,  so  definitely  that  his  work  in  Shanghai  was  not 
yet  finished,  he  had  at  once  to  set  about  seeking  quarters 
to  which  he  might  remove  his  belongings.  But,  as  before, 
the  search  proved  useless.  Nothing  was  to  be  had  at  a 
price  within  his  means. 

Day  after  day  went  by  in  weary  trampings  up  and  down 
the  city,  and  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  the  hope  of  finding 
what  he  needed  seemed  farther  off  than  ever.  Many 
thoughts  had  been  in  his  mind  during  this  time,  some  idea 
of  which  may  be  gathered  from  a  note  to  his  sister  of 
August  19  : 

Dr.  Parker  has  accepted  the  invitation  to  Ning-po,  and  will  be  going 
down  in  a  few  days  to  arrange  accommodation  for  his  family.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  last  week  I  spent  in  seeking  a  house  to  move  into  here 
myself,  but  I  have  not  found  one.  They  all  want  heavy  deposits 
that  I  am  not  able  to  pay.  It  is  wearisome  work,  and  if  I  do  not 
succeed  soon  I  shall  adopt  Chinese  dress  and  seek  a  place  in  the 
country.  .  .  ,  These  changes  are  not  easy.    Do  pray  much  for  me. 

Chinese  dress  and  a  home  somewhere  in  the  country — 
the  thought  was  becoming  famihar.  But  it  was  an  expedient 
almost  unheard  of  in  those  days.  Sometimes  on  inland 
journeys  a  missionary  would  wear  the  native  costume  as 
a  precautionary  measure,  and  Dr.  Medhurst  himself  had 
suggested  to  Hudson  Taylor  that  he  might  find  it  helpful. 
But  it  was  invariably  discarded  on  the  traveller's  return, 
and  he  would  have  been  careless  of  public  opinion  indeed 
who  would  have  ventured  to  wear  it  always,  and  in  the 
Settlement. 

But  it  was  nothing  less  than  this  that  the  young 
missionary  was  meditating,  driven  to  it  by  his  longing  to 
identify  himself  with  the  people  and  by  the  force  of  outward 
circumstances.  If  he  could  not  find  quarters  in  Shanghai 
he  must  go  to  the  interior,  and  why  add  to  his  difficulties 
and  hinder  the  work  he  most  desired  to  accomphsh  by 
emphasising  the  fact  that  he  was  a  foreigner  ? 

Another  week  went  by  in  almost  incessant  house-hunting, 
and  the  time  drew  near  when  Dr.  Parker  was  to  leave  for 
Ning-po.  Hudson  Taylor  had  promised  to  escort  him  as 
far  as  Hang-chow  Bay,  to  see  him  through  the  more  difficult 


EMPTIED  FROM  VESSEL  TO  VESSEL       315 

part  of  the  journey.  They  were  to  start  on  Friday  morning 
the  24th,  and  up  to  Thursday  afternoon  the  search  for 
premises  had  been  in  vain. 

Yes,  it  was  growing  clearer.  For  him,  probably,  the 
right  thing  was  a  closer  identification  with  the  people  ; 
Chinese  dress  at  all  times  and  the  externals  of  Chinese  life, 
including  chop-sticks  and  native  cookery.  How  much  it 
would  simplify  travelling  in  the  interior  !  Already  he  had 
purchased  an  outfit  of  native  clothing.  If,  after  all  the 
prayer  there  had  been  about  it,  he  really  could  not  get 
accommodation  in  Shanghai,  it  must  be  that  the  Lord  had 
other  purposes.  He  would  send  his  few  things  down  to 
Ning-po  with  Dr.  Parker,  who  had  offered  to  store  them, 
and  living  on  boats  would  give  himself  to  evangelistic  work 
until  his  way  opened  up  somewhere  in  the  interior. 

Thursday  night  came,  and  Dr.  Parker  was  to  leave  the 
following  morning.  It  was  useless  to  seek  premises  any 
longer,  so  Hudson  Taylor  went  down  to  engage  the  junk 
that  was  to  take  them  to  Hang-chow  Bay  with  their  belong- 
ings. His  Chinese  dress  was  ready  for  the  following  morning 
when  he  expected  to  begin  a  pilgrim  life  indeed. 

And  this,  apparently,  was  the  point  to  which  it  had  been 
necessary  to  lead  him.  He  had  followed  faithfully.  It 
was  enough.  And  now  on  these  new  lines  could  be  given 
the  answer  to  weeks  and  months  of  prayer. 

As  he  was  on  his  way  to  make  arrangements  for  their 
journey,  a  man  met  him.  Did  he  want  a  house  in  the 
Chinese  city  ?  Would  a  small  one  do,  with  only  five  rooms  ? 
Because  near  the  South  Gate  there  was  such  a  house,  only 
it  was  not  quite  finished  building.  The  owner  had  run 
short  of  money  and  hardly  knew  how  to  complete  the  work. 
If  it  suited  the  Foreign  Teacher,  no  deposit  would  be  asked  : 
it  could  be  had  in  all  probability  for  an  advance  of  six 
months'  rent. 

Feeling  as  though  in  a  dream,  Hudson  Taylor  followed 
his  guide  to  the  southern  quarter  of  the  city,  and  there 
found  a  small,  compact  house,  perfectly  new  and  clean, 
with  two  rooms  upstairs  and  two  down,  and  a  fifth  across 
the  courtyard  for  the  servants— j^st  the  very   thing  he 


3i6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

needed,  in  the  locality  that  suited  him  best,  and  all  for  the 
moderate  sum  of  ten  pounds  to  cover  a  half-year's  rent. 

What  it  must  have  been  to  him  to  pay  the  money  over 
that  night,  and  secure  the  premises,  is  more  easily  imagined 
than  described.  The  Lord  had  indeed  worked  on  his 
behalf.  Prayer  was  being  answered.  He  had  not  missed 
or  mistaken  the  guidance  for  which  he  had  waited  so  long. 
It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  Lord  had  broken  silence,  to 
confirm  and  encourage  His  servant  at  this  critical  time. 
And  best  of  all  was  the  wondering  consciousness  that  He 
Himself  had  done  it  when,  humanly  speaking,  it  seemed 
impossible  :  "  I  being  in  the  way,  the  Lord  led  me." 

That  night  he  took  the  step  he  had  been  prayerfully 
considering — called  in  a  barber,  and  had  himself  so  trans- 
formed in  appearance  that  his  own  mother  could  hardly 
have  known  him.  To  put  on  Chinese  dress  without  shaving 
the  head  is  comparatively  a  simple  matter  ;  but  Hudson 
Taylor  went  all  lengths,  leaving  only  enough  of  the  fair, 
curly  hair  to  grow  into  the  queue  of  the  Chinaman.  He 
had  prepared  a  dye,  moreover,  with  which  he  darkened 
this  remaining  hair,  to  match  the  long,  black  braid  that  at 
first  must  do  duty  for  his  own.  Then  in  the  morning  he 
put  on  as  best  he  might  the  loose,  unaccustomed  garments, 
and  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the  gown  and  satin  shoes 
of  a  "  Teacher,"  or  man  of  the  scholarly  class. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

some  better  thing 

Including  Eighth  Journey.     August-October  1855. 
Aet.  23. 

How  it  all  opened  up  after  this  step  had  been  taken  !  Re- 
turning alone  from  Hang-chow  Bay,  Hudson  Taylor  hardly 
knew  himself  for  the  same  person  who  had  so  often  been 
tried  by  the  petty  annoyances  and  more  serious  hindrances 
to  his  work  by  curious  and  excited  crowds.  Plenty  of 
people  still  followed  him  whenever  he  became  known  as  a 
foreigner,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  gather  an  audience  to 
listen  to  the  Gospel.  But  the  rowdy  element  seemed  some- 
how to  have  disappeared  with  his  European  dress,  and  if 
he  wished  to  pass  unnoticed  he  was  able  to  do  so,  even  in 
the  busiest  streets.  This,  of  course,  greatly  lessened  the 
strain  of  being  much  alone  among  the  people,  and  at  the 
same  time  ga /e  him  access  to  a  more  respectable,  serious- 
minded  class. 

Not  suspected  even  of  being  a  European  until  his  speech 
betrayed  him,  he  had  a  far  truer,  more  natural  point  of 
view  from  which  to  study  conditions  round  him,  and  found 
himself  coming  into  touch  in  a  new  way  with  people  and 
things  Chinese.  It  was  natural  now  to  adopt  their  point 
of  view  as  he  could  not  before,  and  instinctively  he  began 
to  identify  himself  with  those  toward  whom  he  had  hitherto 
occupied  the  position  of  a  foreigner.  Now  he  was  one  of 
them  in  all  outward  respects — dressing,  living,  eating  as 
they  did,  and  greatly  lessening  the  cost  and  difficulty  of 
providing  for  his  needs  by  doing  so.     Altogether  the  change 

317 


3i8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

was  one  for  which  he  found  himself  increasingly  thankful, 
and  that  made  this  August  journey  one  of  peculiar  interest. 


Eighth  Journey:  August  24-31 

Working  his  way  back  by  places  he  had  not  hitherto 
visited,  he  saw  a  good  deal  of  new  country,  and  was  able  to 
observe  more  closely  its  character  and  needs. 

"  I  parted  from  Dr.  Parker  last  night,"  he  wrote  on  August  28/ 
"  and  am  now  alone  for  the  first  time  in  the  interior  in  Chinese 
costume.  ...  I  have  been  travelling  through  beautiful  scenery 
to-day,  and  among  some  rough  people.  How  I  wish  you  could  have 
seen  their  gratitude  for  medical  aid  !  Men  and  women^  old  and  young, 
all  seemed  thankful  to  receive  it,  and  much  groundless  suspicion 
against  foreigners  must  have  been  removed.  Of  course  I  am  known 
to  be  a  foreigner  by  my  accent  as  soon  as  I  begin  to  speak.  .  .  . 

"  As  you  may  suppose  I  am  not  yet  quite  at  home  in  my  new 
dress  .  .  .  the  turned-up  shoes  being  especially  uncomfortable ; 
but  I  shall  get  used  to  them  soon.  The  worst  inconvenience  is  the 
head  being  uncovered,  as  the  Chinese  wear  no  cap  at  this  time  of 
year.  .  .  .'^ 

"  I  do  not  think  I  told  you  that  the  very  evening  before  we  left 
Shanghai  I  obtained  a  house  in  the  native  city  for  quite  a  moderate 
rent.  From  repeated  disappointments  I  had  quite  given  up  the  hope 
of  getting  one,  .  .  .  when  just  as  I  was  preparing  to  send  my  things 
to  Ning-po  with  Dr.  Parker,  the  Lord  providentially  opened  my  way. 
I  have  every  reason  to  be  thankful  for  this,  for  I  thought  I  was  going 
to  be  houseless  and  homeless  for  the  time  being.  How  true  it  is  that 
*  Man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity.'  .  .  . 

"  The  change  from  a  large  household,  two  families  besides  myself, 
to  living  quite  alone  will  no  doubt  have  its  trials,  but  I  hope  to  be 
rewarded  by  increasing  fluency  in  the  language,  leading  to  greater 
usefulness.  Will  you  join  me  in  constant  prayer  for  more  close  and 
abiding  communion  with  Him  who  never  forsakes  His  own  ?  .  .  . 
May  He  fulfil  His  gracious  promise,  and  bless  my  efforts  to  the  con- 
version of  sinners.  Oh,  to  walk  blameless  in  love  before  Him  myself, 
and  to  be  used  in  turning  many  from  their  idols  '  to  serve  the  living 
and  true  God,  and  to  wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven.'  " 

As  to  the  discomforts  of  Chinese  dress,  of  which  he  was 
fully  conscious,  he  was  enabled  from  the  first  to  make  light 

1  A  letter  to  a  friend  in  Hull. 
2  For  protection  from  sunstroke  Mr.  Taylor  carried  a  native  umbrella. 


SOME  BETTER  THING  319 

of  them,  as  may  be  seen  from  a  letter  to  his  sister  written 
just  after  parting  from  Dr.  Parker : 

Hai-yen  City, 

August  28,  1855. 

My  dear  Amelia— By  way  of  surprise  I  mean  to  write  you  a 
letter— for  I  know  you  have  never  received  one  before  from  a  man 
with  a  long  tail  and  shaven  head  !  But  lest  your  head  should  be 
bewildered  with  conjectures,  I  had  better  tell  you  at  once  that  on 
Thursday  last  at  11  p.m.  I  resigned  my  locks  to  the  barber,  dyed  my 
hair  a  good  black,  and  in  the  morning  had  a  proper  queue  plaited  in 
with  my  own,  and  a  quantity  of  heavy  silk  to  lengthen  it  out  according 
to  Chinese  custom.  Then,  in  Chinese  dress,  I  set  out  with  Dr.  Parker 
accompanying  him  about  a  hundred  rniles  on  his  way  to  Ning-po. 
This  journey  we  made  an  occasion  for  evangelistic  work,  and  now 
that  I  am  returning  alone  I  hope  to  have  even  better  facilities  for 
book-distribution  and  preaching. 

But  I  have  not  commenced  the  recital  of  my  tribulations,  and  as 
there  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  they  will  all  go  into  a  single  letter 
the  sooner  I  begin  the  better. 

First  then,  it  is  a  very  sore  thing  to  have  one's  head  shaved  for  the 
first  time,  especially  if  the  skin  is  irritable  with  prickly  heat.  And  I 
can  assure  you  that  the  subsequent  application  of  hair-dye  for  five 
or  six  hours,  (Litharge  i  part ;  quick  lime,  freshly  slaked,  3  parts  ; 
water  enough  to  make  a  cream)  does  not  do  much  to  soothe  the  irrita- 
tion. But  when  it  comes  to  combing  out  the  remaining  hair  which 
has  been  allowed  to  grow  longer  than  usual,  the  climax  is  reached  ! 
But  there  are  no  gains  without  pains,  and  certainly  if  suffering  for  a 
thing  makes  it  dearer,  I  shall  regard  my  queue  when  I  attain  one 
with  no  small  amount  of  pride  and  affection. 

Secondly,  wnen  you  proceed  to  your  toilet,  you  no  longer  wonder 
that  many  Chinese  in  the  employ  of  Europeans  wear  foreign  shoes  and 
stockings  as  soon  as  they  can  get  them.  For  native  socks  are  made 
of  cahco  and  of  course  are  not  elastic  .  .  .  and  average  toes  decidedly 
object  to  be  squeezed  out  of  shape,  nor  do  one's  heels  appreciate  their 
low  position  in  perfectly  flat-soled  shoes.  Next  come  the  breeches — 
but  oh,  what  unheard-of  garments  !  Mine  are  two  feet  too  wide  for 
me  round  the  waist,  which  amplitude  is  laid  in  a  fold  in  front,  and 
kept  in  place  by  a  strong  girdle.  The  legs  are  short,  not  coming  much 
below  the  knee,  and  wide  in  proportion  with  the  waist  measurement. 
Tucked  into  the  long,  white  socks,  they  have  a  bloomer-like  fulness 
capable,  as  Dr.  Parker  remarked,  of  storing  a  fortnight's  provisions  ! 
No  shirt  is  worn.  But  a  white,  washing-jacket,  with  sleeves  as  wide 
as  ladies  affected  twenty  years  ago,  supplies  its  place.  And  over  all 
goes  a  heavy  silk  gown  of  some  rich  or  delicate  colour,  with  sleeves 


320  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

equally  wide  and  reaching  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  beyond  the  tips 
of  one's  fingers — folded  back  of  course  when  the  hands  are  in  use. 
Unfortunately  no  cap  or  hat  is  used  at  this  season  of  the  year,  except 
on  state  occasions,  which  is  trying  as  the  sun  is  awfully  hot. 

Wednesday,  August  29. — I  do  not  know,  dear  Amelia,  whether  you 
are  weary  of  these  details.  But  I  have  no  time  for  more  upon  the 
subject,  so  will  dismiss  it  with  only  a  mention  of  the  shampooing  I 
got  from  the  barber  the  other  day.  I  thought  I  had  better  go  in  for  it 
as  part  of  the  proceedings,  for  I  might  be  in  difficulty  some  day  if 
found  to  be  uninitiated.  So  I  bore  with  an  outrageous  tickling  as 
long  as  I  could,  and  then  the  beating  commenced  !  And  my  back 
was  really  sore  in  places  before  it  was  over.  On  the  next  occasion, 
however,  I  stood  it  better,  and  I  hope  to  acquit  myself  creditably  in 
time  with  regard  to  this  phase  of  the  barber's  art. 

While  still  with  Dr.  Parker  on  the  way  to  Hang-chow  Bay  I  was 
frequently  recognised  as  a  foreigner,  because  of  having  to  speak  to 
him  in  English,  but  to-day  in  going  about  Hai-yen  City  no  one  even 
guessed  that  such  a  being  was  near.  It  was  not  until  I  began  to  dis- 
tribute books  and  see  patients  that  I  became  known.  Then  of  course 
my  men  were  asked  where  I  came  from,  and  the  news  soon  spread. 
Dressed  in  this  way  one  is  not  so  much  respected  at  first  sight  as  one 
might  be  in  foreign  clothing.  But  a  little  medical  work  soon  puts  that 
all  right,  and  it  is  evidently  to  be  one's  chief  help  for  the  interior. 
Women  and  children,  it  seems  to  me,  manifest  more  readiness  to  come 
for  medical  aid  now  than  they  did  before  .  .  .  and  in  this  way  too, 
I  think  the  native  costume  will  be  of  service. 

Thus  he  returned  to  Shanghai  as  summer  merged  into 
autumn,  to  take  up  in  the  old  surroundings  a  very  different 
life.  For  the  change  he  had  made  after  so  much  prayer 
was  soon  found  to  affect  more  than  his  outward  appearance. 
The  Chinese  felt  it,  Europeans  felt  it,  and  above  all  he  felt 
it  himself — putting  an  intangible  barrier  between  him  and 
foreign  associations,  and  throwing  him  back  as  never  before 
upon  the  people  of  his  adoption.  This,  while  he  rejoiced 
in  it  for  his  work's  sake,  was  not  without  its  sting. 

The  covert  sneer  or  undisguised  contempt  of  the  European 
community  he  found  less  difficult  to  bear  than  the  dis- 
approval of  fellow -missionaries.  But  this  also  had  to  be 
faced,  for  he  was  practically  alone  in  his  convictions,  and 
certainly  the  only  one  to  carry  them  into  effect.  The  more 
he  suffered  for  them,  however,  the  more  they  deepened  ; 
and  the  more  he  gave  himself  to  the  Chinese  in  consequence, 


SOME  BETTER  THING  321 

the  more  a  new  and  wonderful  joy  in  the  Lord  flooded  his 
soul. 

"  The  future  is  a  ravelled  maze/'  he  wrote  to  his  mother  early  in 
September,  "  but  my  path  has  always  been  made  plain  just  one  step 
at  a  time.  I  must  wait  on  God  and  trust  in  Him,  and  all  will  be  well 
I  thmk  I  do  love  Him  more  than  ever,  and  long  increasingly  to  serve 
Him  as  He  directs.  I  have  had  some  wonderful  seasons  of  soul- 
refreshing  lately,  unworthy  of  them  as  I  have  been." 

And  to  his  sister  a  few  days  later  : 

The  love  of  God  is  indeed  wonderful  to  contemplate.  His  long- 
suffering  how  unbounded  !  If  ever  there  was  one  who  deserved  eternal 
banishment  from  His  presence,  it  is  I ;  and  yet  I  have  had  such  melt- 
ing seasons  in  prayer,  such  manifestations  of  His  love,  and  such  strong 
faith  and  confidence  in  Him  of  late  that  I  have  been  quite  astonished 
at  His  abounding  grace  to  one  so  lukewarm  and  unfaithful.  His 
grace  even  exceeds  our  unworthiness.  Can  we  say  more  than  this  ? 
What  a  happy  day  it  will  be  when,  seeing  Him  as  He  is,  we  shall  be 
made  like  Him — free  from  sin  and  perfect  in  purity  ! 

And  these  experiences  only  deepened  when  he  left  the 
Settlement,  parting  from  the  friends  with  whom  he  had 
lived  for  months. 

"  Dr.  Parker  is  in  Ning-po,"  he  wrote  a  little  later,^  "  but  I  am  not 
alone.  I  have  such  a  sensible  presence  of  God  with  me  as  I  never 
before  experienced,  and  such  drawings  to  prayer  and  watchfulness 
as  are  very  bl  issed  and  necessary." 

Yet  his  surroundings  were  far  from  attractive  within 
the  walls  of  the  native  city,  and  his  arrangements  of  the 
simplest,  providing  only  for  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 
Chinese  food  and  cooking  were  something  of  a  trial  at  first, 
especially  while  the  weather  continued  warm,  and  so  were 
the  sights  and  smells  that  could  not  be  avoided  amid  that 
teeming  population  devoid  of  the  most  elementary  ideas  of 
sanitation.  But  the  principal  remains  the  same  throughout 
the  ages  :  "As  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in  us,  so  our 
consolation  also  aboundeth  by  Christ  "  :  and  the  consolation, 
or  "  encouragement,"  as  it  may  be  read,  far  exceeds  the 
loneliness  and  sacrifice. 

1  A  letter  to  his  sister  Amelia,  dated  October  3. 


322  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

It  was  Monday,  September  17,  when  he  resumed  upon 
moving  into  his  new  quarters  a  soHtary  hfe,  and  only  three 
weeks  later  he  wrote  to  tell  his  mother  of  the  sweetest  joy 
he  had  ever  known.  For  those  three  weeks  had  told.  It 
is  always  "  overflow  that  blesses,"  and  a  heart  so  full  of  the 
love  of  God  could  not  but  awaken  in  others  a  hunger  for 
more  than  they  had  known.  The  boys  in  the  school  felt 
it ;  the  enquirers  felt  it,  coming  daily  to  the  meetings  ; 
patients  crowding  the  little  dispensary  felt  it,  and  stayed 
to  hear  what  "  the  foreign  doctor  "  had  to  say  ;  and  above 
all  Kuei-hua  felt  it,  his  own  faithful  servant  and  friend. 

Fully  instructed  in  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  the  latter 
had  for  some  time  been  a  sincere  believer,  but  now  he  could 
no  longer  refrain  from  confessing  his  master's  God.  Early 
one  morning,  therefore,  he  sought  the  young  missionary, 
with  the  earnest  request  that  he  might  be  baptized.  The 
day  that  followed  was  a  busy  one,  but  Hudson  Taylor  could 
not  let  it  pass  without  communicating  so  great  a  joy. 

"  This  morning/'  he  wrote  just  as  the  mail  was  leaving,  "  my  heart 
was  gladdened  by  the  request  of  Kuei-hua  (my  adopted  pupil's  brother) 
to  be  baptized.  The  Lord  has  been  working  a  manifest  change  in 
him  of  late  .  .  .  but  not  until  to-day  has  he  asked  to  be  admitted 
into  church  membership.  I  cannot  tell  you  the  joy  this  has  brought 
me.  .  .  .  '  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced 
in  God  my  Saviour.'  Were  my  work  ended  here,  I  feel  I  could  say 
with  Simeon, '  Lord  now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace  .  .  . 
for  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation.'  If  one  soul  is  worth  worlds, 
mother,  am  I  not  abundantly  repaid  ?     And  are  not  you  too  ?  " 

But  this  was  not  the  only  encouragement  of  which  he 
had  to  tell  before  the  month  was  over.  For  that  October 
mail  brought  another  letter  from  Mr.  Berger.  Satisfied 
with  the  use  made  of  his  first  gift  of  ten  pounds,  this  kind 
friend  now  repeated  it,  undertaking  to  do  so  every  half 
year,  and  thus  provide  entirely  for  Han-pan's  education. 
But  more  than  this,  he  wrote  "  a  very  affectionate  letter," 
urging  the  young  missionary  to  expect  great  things  from 
God,  and  enclosing  a  further  sum  of  forty  pounds  to  be  used 
as  he  thought  best  in  the  interests  of  the  work. 

It  seems  to  have  been  with  an  almost  solemnised  sense 


SOME  BETTER  THING  323 

of  the  goodness  of  God  that  Hudson  Taylor  pondered  all 
this  in  the  light  of  the  past,  and  in  its  relation  to  the  future. 
How  long  he  had  looked  forward  to  the  joy  of  winning  his 
first  convert  among  the  heathen  !  How  keenly  he  had  felt 
lack  of  means  properly  to  develop  the  work  !  Now  souls 
were  being  given,  not  Kuei-hua  only,  but  one  or  two  other 
promising  enquirers  ;  and  this  generous  friend  in  England 
was  being  drawn  more  and  more  into  sympathy  with  the 
line  of  things  to  which  he  felt  himself  called.  It  was  all  so 
wonderful,  so  like  God  ! 

What  the  future  held  he  could  not  tell.  But  already 
the  Lord  was  more  than  making  up  for  plans  they  had  had 
to  abandon,  and  for  all  the  trials  undergone.  And  straight 
to  his  heart  came  the  message  of  Mr.  Berger's  letter  : 

"  Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it."  Oh  yes  !  God  is  not 
straightened  !  If  we  expect  much  from  Him,  He  surely  will  not 
disappoint  us. 


PART  V 

SEVEN  MONTHS  WITH   WILLIAM  BURNS 
1855-1856.     Aet.   23-24. 

Chap.  26. — A  Parish  of  a  Million. 

„      27. — As  Rivers  of  Water  in  a  Dry  Place. 
„      28. — Under  the  Shadow  of  the  Almighty. 
„      29. — Stedfast,  Unmovable. 
„     ,^0. — On  Whom  the  Mantle  Fell. 


Surely  one  star  above  all  souls  shall  brighten, 

Leading  for  ever  where  the  Lord  is  laid  ; 
One  revelation  thro'  all  years  enhghten 

Steps  of  bewilderment  and  eyes  afraid. 

Us  with  no  other  gospel  thou  ensnarest. 

Fiend  from  beneath  or  angel  from  above  ! 
Knowing  one  thing  the  sacredest  and  fairest, — 

Knowing  there  is  not  anything  but  Love. 

Ay,  and  when  Prophecy  her  tale  hath  finished, 

Knowledge  hath  withered  from  the  trembling  tongue. 

Love  shall  survive  and  Love  be  undiminished. 
Love  be  imperishable,  Love  be  young. 

Love  that  bent  low  beneath  his  brother's  burden, 
How  shall  he  soar  and  find  all  sorrows  flown  ! 

Love  that  ne'er  asked  for  answer  or  for  guerdon. 
How  shall  he  meet  eyes  sweeter  than  his  own  1 

Love  was  beheving, — and  the  best  is  truest ; 

Love  would  hope  ever, — and  the  trust  was  gain  ; 
Love  that  endured  shall  learn  that  thou  renewest 

Love,  even  thine,  O  Master  !  with  thy  pain. 

Not  in  soft  speech  is  told  the  earthly  story. 

Love  of  all  Loves,  that  showed  thee  for  an  hour  ; 

Shame  was  thy  kingdom,  and  reproach  thy  glory. 
Death  thine  eternity,  the  Cross  thy  power. 

Frederic  W.  H.  Myers. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

A  PARISH   OF  A   MILLION 

October-November  1855.     Aet.  23. 

Could  it  be  really  true  ?  A  home  of  his  own  in  the  interior, 
and  he  himself  in  Chinese  dress  quietly  hving  among  the 
people,  a  day's  journey  from  the  nearest  Treaty  Port  ? 
Often  during  those  autumn  days  it  must  have  seemed  like 
a  dream.  Yet  the  dream  lasted,  with  most  encouraging 
results. 

It  was  aU  in  answer  to  prayer  no  doubt,  but  the  Chinese 
dress  he  was  wearing  had  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it. 
As  soon  as  he  could  leave  the  South  Gate  house  in  charge 
of  Teacher  Si  he  had  set  out  on  another  evangelistic  journey, 
which  was  to  include  a  second  visit  to  the  island  of  Tsung- 
ming.  Bul  he  had  got  no  further  than  the  first  place  at 
which  he  landed,  for  there  within  two  or  three  days  of  his 
arrival  he  found  himself  in  possession  of  this  little  house  of 
his  own. 

The  people  simply  would  not  hear  of  his  leaving.  Clothed 
like  themselves  and  living  much  as  they  did,  he  did  not 
seem  a  foreigner ;  and  when  they  heard  that  he  must  have 
an  upstairs  room  to  sleep  in,  on  account  of  the  dampness  of 
the  locality,  they  said,  "  Let  him  live  in  the  temple,  if  no 
other  upper  room  can  be  found." 

And  quite  willingly  the  young  missionary  would  have 
done  so,  if  the  semi-discarded  idols  could  have  been  cleared 
out  of  one  of  the  silent,  dusty  chambers  looking  down  upon 
the  court.  But  in  this  the  priests  foresaw  a  ditliculty. 
Most  of  the  idols,  they  said,  were  old  and  unimportant  ;  but 

327 


328  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

there  were  some,  even  upstairs,  that  it  would  not  do  to 
interfere  with.  Could  not  the  Foreign  Teacher  allow  them 
to  remain  ?  But  when  he  explained  that  it  was  a  question 
of  his  God — the  true  and  living  God,  Creator  of  earth  and 
Heaven,  who  could  not  be  asked  to  company  wdth  idols, 
the  work  of  men's  hands,  and  dependent  for  power,  if  they 
had  any,  upon  the  presence  of  evil  spirits — both  priests  and 
people  saw  the  reasonableness  of  his  position.  But  even 
so  they  dared  not  dispossess  certain  of  those  idols. 

What  made  them  want  so  much  to  have  him  does  not 
appear.  Perhaps  it  was  the  medicine  chest.  Perhaps  it 
was  the  preaching.  At  any  rate  there  was  nothing  in  his 
outward  appearance  to  frighten  them  away,  and  the 
difference  between  this  experience  and  anything  he  had 
met  \\dth  on  previous  journeys  taught  him  afresh  the  value 
of  Chinese  dress. 

The  second  day  of  his  stay  there  was  a  Sunday,  and 
already  a  house  had  been  discovered  with  some  sort  of  an 
upper  story  whose  owner  was  quite  willing  to  receive  the 
missionary.  Indeed  he  could  rent  the  entire  premises,  if 
they  pleased  him,  for  a  moderate  sum.  But  keen  as  he 
was  to  secure  the  place  Hudson  Taylor  would  not  go  to 
see  it  on  Sunday,  and  the  people  watching  him  received 
their  first  impressions  of  the  day  God  calls  His  own. 

The  delay  did  but  forward  Hudson  Taylor's  interests, 
however  ;  and  before  Monday  was  half  over  the  agreement 
was  concluded  that  gave  him  possession  of  his  first  home  in 
"  inland  China." 

Busy  indeed  were  the  days  that  followed — one  of  the 
hardest-worked  and  happiest  times  the  young  missionary 
had  ever  known  in  his  life.  The  house  needed  cleaning, 
not  to  speak  of  furnishing,  before  it  could  be  considered 
habitable  even  from  a  Chinese  point  of  view.  But  more 
important  than  all  this  was  the  stream  of  visitors  who 
had  to  be  received  with  courtesy — gentlemen  from  the 
town  and  country,  patients  eager  for  medicine,  and  neigh- 
bours who  seemed  never  weary  of  dropping  in  to  watch  and 
listen  to  all  that  was  going  on.  His  servant  Kuei-hua  and 
an  earnest  inquirer  from  the  South  Gate  named  Ts'ien  were 


A  PARISH  OF  A  MILLION  329 

invaluable  in  helping  him  to  preach  the  Gospel,  morning, 
noon  and  night.  But  even  so  he  finished  up  the  week  with 
an  attack  of  ague,  due  to  over-weariness  and  the  change  to 
autumn  weather. 

All  that  was  necessary,  however,  had  been  accomplished. 
The  curiosity  of  the  neighbourhood  was  satisfied,  visitors 
had  for  the  most  part  carried  away  favourable  impressions, 
the  house  was  whitewashed  and  sufficiently  set  in  order, 
forms  were  ready  for  "  the  Chapel,"  and  best  of  all,  the 
conviction  had  gone  abroad  that  the  young  missionary 
had  come  to  Tsung-ming  not  for  pleasure  and  comfort 
merely/  but  to  do  good,  to  relieve  suffering  and  to  tell 
them  something  everybody  ought  to  know. 

After  that  things  settled  down  to  a  regular  routine. 
Patients  were  seen  and  daily  meetings  held,  and  to  the 
thankfulness  of  the  missionary  and  his  helpers  a  few  in- 
quirers began  to  gather  about  them.  One  of  these  was  a 
blacksmith  named  Chang,  and  another  an  assistant  in  a 
grocery  store,  men  of  good  standing  in  the  town  "  whose 
hearts  the  Lord  opened."  Ts'ien  was  invaluable  in  helping 
these  beginners  and  in  receiving  guests,  and  both  he  and 
Kuei-hua  were  so  eager  to  learn  more  themselves  that 
they  made  the  most  of  the  little  while  Mr.  Taylor  could 
give  them  at  night  when  outsiders  had  all  gone  home. 

And  all  about  them  stretched  the  populous  island — a 
parish  of  a  million,  every  one  of  whom  he  longed  to  reach. 
The  town  itself  contained  only  twenty  to  thirty  thousand, 
but  villages  were  numerous  in  every  direction,  and  the 
medical  work  was  making  friends.  Wherever  Mr.  Taylor 
and  his  helpers  went  they  found  somebody  ready  to  welcome 
them,  and  as  frequently  as  possible  they  spent  a  day  in  the 
coimtry  preaching  the  Gospel. 

"  It  is  almost  too  much  to  expect,"  he  wrote  at  the  beginning  of 

1  It  is  a  common  impression  among  the  Chinese,  especially  in  places 
new  to  missionary  work,  that  the  attractions  of  their  native  land  must  be 
great  in  order  to  induce  foreigners  to  travel  so  far  to  settle  among  them. 
Clearly  they  can  have  nothing  so  beautiful  at  home,  or  they  would  not 
leave  it  !  Material  comfort  especially,  they  conclude,  must  be  immeasur- 
ably greater  among  themselves  than  anything  "  outside  barbarians " 
know.  This  of  course  only  applies  in  the  present  day  to  districts  remote 
from  the  coast. 


330  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

this  work/  "  that  I  shall  be  allowed  to  remain  on  without  molestation, 
so  I  must  use  every  effort  to  sow  the  good  seed  of  the  Kingdom  while 
I  may,  and  be  earnest  in  prayer  for  blessing.  Should  it  please  the 
Lord  to  establish  me  in  this  place  and  raise  up  a  band  of  believers, 
it  seems  to  me  that  by  making  a  circuit  somewhat  on  the  Wesleyan 
plan  we  should  be  enabled  to  do  the  greatest  amount  of  good.  .  .  . 
"  Pray  for  me.  I  sometimes  feel  a  sense  of  responsibility  that  is 
quite  oppressive — the  only  light-bearer  among  so  msmy.  But  this  is 
wrong.  It  is  Jesus  who  is  to  shine  in  me  ...  I  am  not  left  to  my 
own  resources.  The  two  native  Christians  are  a  great  comfort.  May 
I  be  enabled  to  help  them  by  life  as  well  as  teaching,  and  see  them 
continually  grow  in  grace." 

It  seemed  a  matter  for  regret  that  after  three  weeks 
of  this  happy  work  supphes  began  to  run  short  and  Mr. 
Taylor  had  to  return  to  Shanghai  for  money  and  medicines. 
Not  anticipating  a  long  absence,  he  arranged  for  the  meetings 
to  go  on  without  him,  and  leaving  Ts'ien  in  charge  sailed  for 
the  mainland  on  Tuesday  evening,  November  5.  Next 
day  he  wrote  from  the  South  Gate  : 

My  dear  Mother — I  have  returned  here  in  safety,  and  the  mail 
leaving  to-day  gives  me  an  opportunity  for  answering  your  welcome 
letters.  .  .  . 

Last  week  on  the  island,  to  which  I  return  as  soon  as  possible,  I 
saw  more  than  two  hundred  patients  and  frequently  preached  the 
Gospel.  But  for  a  slight  cold  I  am  quite  well,  and  am  also  very  happy. 
.  .  .  Kuei-hua  is  with  me,  but  Ts'ien  is  left  on  the  island  to  preach 
daily  and  carry  on  meetings  with  the  inquirers.  .  .  .  The  Lord  be 
with  and  bless  him.  I  hardly  liked  to  leave  so  young  a  Christian  in 
such  a  responsible  position.  But  what  was  to  be  done  ?  .  .  .  Do  pray 
that  he  may  be  kept  faithful  and  may  be  much  used  in  the  dissemina- 
tion of  the  Truth. 

Eager  though  Mr.  Taylor  was  to  go  back  at  once  he 
found  it  necessary  to  wait  while  a  fresh  outfit  of  Chinese 
clothing  was  prepared  for  the  winter  season.  So  far  he 
had  only  used  unlined  garments,  but  now  it  was  a  question 
of  wadded  coats,  shoes  and  trousers,  not  to  speak  of  a  gown 
lined  with  lamb-skins  and  a  big  red  hood  to  cover  head 

1  In  a  letter  to  an  uncle  by  marriage,  the  Rev.  Edward  King,  dated 
October  23,  1855,  in  which  Mr.  Taylor  also  says:  "That  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  renting  a  house  here  so  easih'  is  due  no  doubt  to  my  having 
adopted  the  native  costume,  not  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  hearts  of 
all  are  in  the  Lord's  hands,  to  be  moved  by  Him  as  He  will." 


A  PARISH  OF  A  MILLION  331 

and  shoulders.  All  this  took  time,  and  while  the  things 
were  being  made  Mr.  Taylor  found  he  could  fit  in  a  visit 
to  Sung-kiang  to  look  up  an  inquirer  in  whom  Ts'ien  was 
interested.  Sunday,  November  11,  was  spent  in  his  com- 
pany, and  then  the  young  missionary  hastened  back  to 
Shanghai  on  his  return  journey. 

He  had  been  absent  little  more  than  a  week  from  the 
island,  but  much  may  happen  in  that  time  as  he  learned 
from  the  news  awaiting  him.  A  storm  was  brewing  at 
Sin-k'ai-ho.  Ts'ien  had  come  over  hurriedly,  and  finding 
no  one  at  the  South  Gate  had  returned  to  his  post  leaving 
letters  to  explain  the  situation.  Amid  many  exciting 
rumours  one  clear  fact  emerged  :  a  proclamation  had  been 
issued  to  the  effect  that  the  foreigner  who  had  unwarrant- 
ably taken  up  his  abode  on  Tsung-ming  was  to  be  sent  back 
to  Shanghai  at  once  where  he  would  suffer  the  severest 
penalty,  and  that  all  persons  who  had  aided  his  presumptu- 
ous action  would  also  be  punished  after  the  strictest  letter 
of  the  law. 

AU  this  seemed  very  serious,  and  it  was  with  a  heavy 
heart  Mr.  Taylor  returned  to  the  island  as  quickly  as  possible. 

"  I  left  my  things  on  board  the  junk,"  he  wrote  to  his  parents  a 
fortnight  lafj/  "  and  went  up  to  see  what  was  happening.  After 
hearing  all  Ts'ien  had  to  say  I  concluded  to  dismiss  the  junk,  and 
now  must  tell  you  what  has  taken  place  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
gather  it. 

"  Well,  it  seems  that  the  two  doctors  and  four  druggists  of  this  town 
have  begun  to  find  me  rather  a  serious  rival.  Bad  legs  of  many  years' 
standing  have  been  cured  in  a  few  days.  Eye-medicine  exceeding 
theirs  in  potency  can  be  obtained  for  nothing.  A  whole  host  of  itch 
cases,  regular  customers  for  plasters  (!)  have  in  some  way  disappeared. 
Ague  patients  are  saying  that  the  doctors  are  without  talent,  and 
asthmatics  are  loud  in  praise  of  foreign  cough-powders.  What  was 
to  be  the  end  of  it  all  ?     That  was  the  question. 

"  So  the  fraternity  met  together,  took  tea,  tobacco  and  counsel,  and 
sent  twelve  dollars  to  the  Mandarin  to  have  the  intruder  expelled. 
I  believe,  however,  that  none  of  it  ever  reached  him.  It  is  much  more 
likely  to  have  been  seized  by  rapacious  underlings  who  forthwith  took 
the  matter  into  their  own  hands.     But  of  this  I  have  no  positive 

1  Written  from  Sin-k'ai-ho  at  the  end  of  November. 


332  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

proof.  Here  was  a  foreigner  anxious  to  settle  on  the  island  ;  the 
landlord;  middle-man^  and  Elder  of  the  town  who  had  received  him 
would  doubtless  be  squeezable  by  threats  of  punishment ;  while 
the  doctors  and  druggists  would  be  sure  to  give  more,  if  necessary, 
to  get  rid  of  their  rival.  So  down  they  came  and  soon  managed 
to  frighten  the  parties  concerned,  but  not  to  get  any  money.  .  .  . 

"  Again  they  came,  hoping  I  might  have  returned,  this  time  bringing 
a  writ  sealed  with  the  Mandarin's  seal,  though  I  believe  from  subse- 
quent events  that  this  also  was  without  his  knowledge.  The  tenor 
of  the  document  was  that  I  was  to  be  handed  over  at  once  to  the  Tao- 
tai  in  Shanghai,  who  with  the  British  Consul  would  most  severely 
punish  me  ;  and  that  the  Chinese,  one  and  all,  were  to  be  brought 
before  the  Mandarin  in  Tsung-ming  city  and  made  to  suffer  according 
to  their  deserts. 

"  Ts  ien,  fearing  this  might  be  serious,  made  a  copy  of  the  writ  and 
came  over  to  Shanghai,  but  as  I  was  not  to  be  found  he  went  back  at 
once.  The  messengers  then  came  a  third  time,  saying  they  had  dis- 
covered my  objects  to  be  wholly  virtuous,  and  if  I  would  pay  expenses 
(a  sum  of  thirteen  dollars)  they  would  hush  up  the  matter  and  there 
would  be  an  end  of  it. 

"  On  my  return  I  felt  a  little  anxious,  not  for  my  own  sake  but  on 
account  of  those  who  would  be  implicated  if  trouble  were  to  arise. 
But  finally  the  '  runners,'  after  lowering  their  demand  to  ten  dollars 
and  then  to  three,  finding  that  I  would  not  give  them  a  cash,  managed 
to  squeeze  thirteen  dollars  out  of  the  doctors  and  druggists  and  came 
no  more.  All  then  seemed  over.  I  continued  to  see  patients  as 
before,  going  every  alternate  day  to  preach  in  neighbouring  towns  and 
villages  till  Monday  the  26th  instant,  which  with  yesterday  have  been 
days  of  intense  anxiety. 

"  On  Monday  morning  while  we  were  at  breakfast  the  Mandarin 
from  Tsung-ming  city  passed  by,  his  attendants  making  it  known 
that  he  had  come  for  the  double  purpose  of  seizing  some  pirates  at  a 
town  below  and  of  examining  into  our  affairs.  Ts'ien  and  Kuei-hua 
were  to  be  dragged  before  him,  the  landlord  also,  and  an  old  man  of 
over  seventy  who  had  acted  as  go-between  ;  and  unless  their  replies 
were  '  satisfactory  '  they  would  be  beaten  from  three  hundred  to  a 
thousand  blows  each.  We  had  morning  worship,  specially  praying 
for  protection,  and  then  preached  and  saw  patients  as  usual.  .  .  . 
Toward  the  close  of  the  afternoon  we  were  told  that  the  Mandarin 
had  gone  to  seize  the  pirates  first,  and  would  deal  with  our  matters 
on  his  return  journey. 

"  Next  day  I  kept  all  who  were  concerned  in  the  house,  that  none 
might  be  taken  without  my  knowledge.  We  saw  patients,  some  having 
come  many  miles,  .  .  .  and  preached  as  usual.  In  the  afternoon, 
as  I  was  operating  on  the  eye  of  a  woman,  who  should  pass  but  the 


A  PARISH  OF  A  MILLION  333 

Mandarin  with  ail  liis  followers.  It  was  well  that  the  operation  was 
over,  or  I  should  have  found  it  difficult  to  complete  it,  for  I  was 
trembling  with  excitement.  It  was  not  until  two  hours  later  that  we 
definitely  learned  that  he  had  gone  on  to  the  capital  without  stopping. 
Then  our  prayers  were  turned  into  praise  indeed  !  It  may  be  that 
he  is  not  even  aware  of  my  presence  ...  and  that  the  whole  story 
was  a  further  attempt  to  extort  money  on  the  part  of  his  under- 
lings.    If  so,  finding  it  unsuccessful,  I  hope  they  will  not  repeat  it. 

"  From  that  time  to  this,  November  29,  we  have  had  no  trouble. 
To-day  I  have  been  at  a  village  seven  miles  away  containing  about 
four  hundred  inhabitants.  We  preached  at  some  length  and  left  a 
few  tracts  and  Gospels,  but  I  doubt  whether  more  than  one  person 
in  the  place  is  able  to  understand  what  he  reads.  .  .  .  The  truth  is 
China  must  be  evangelised  hke  other  heathen  countries  by  the  Word 
preached  as  well  as  written.  So  we  need  men,  more  men  willing  to 
deny  themselves  the  pleasures  of  society  and  of  the  table,  to  live  among 
the  people  and  make  the  Gospel  widely  known.  There  is  a  black- 
smith here  who  as  far  as  I  can  judge  is  truly  converted,  thank  God  !  " 

Thus  in  spite  of  persecution  and  threatened  danger,  the 
good  work  went  on.  Six  weeks  was  a  long  time  to  have 
been  enabled  to  reside  in  one  place,  preaching  the  Gospel 
daily,  forty  miles  from  the  nearest  Treaty  Port.  And  now 
that  the  storm  had  blown  over,  the  young  missionary  was 
more  than  ever  earnest  in  making  the  most  of  his  oppor- 
tunities. To  see  the  inquirers  growing  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  was  a  joy  no  words  could  express. 
The  blacksmith,  Chang,  now  closed  his  shop  on  Sundays, 
and  both  he  and  Sung  openly  declared  themselves  Christians. 
The  change  that  had  come  over  them  awakened  not  a  little 
interest  among  their  fellow-townsmen,  several  of  whom 
were  attending  the  services  regularly.  So  that  the  blow 
when  it  fell  was  all  the  more  painful  for  being  unexpected — 
and  it  came  from  an  unforeseen  quarter. 

It  was  December  i,  and  Hudson  Taylor  had  gone  over 
to  Shanghai  to  obtain  money  and  send  off  letters.  To  his 
surprise  an  important-looking  document  was  awaiting  him 
at  the  South  Gate,  which  read  as  follows  : 

British  Consulate,  Shanghai, 
•^  •  •  ,    ^         ,        ,,      ,,^^     ,  November  23,  1855. 

British  Consul  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Taylor.  ^'     ^^ 

Sir — I  am  directed  by  Her  Majesty's  Consul  to  inform  you  that 
information  has  been  lodged  at  this  office  by  His  Excellency  the 


334  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Intendant  of  Circuit,  to  the  effect  that  you  have  rented  a  house  from 
a  Chinese  named  Si  Sung-an,  at  a  place  called  Sin-k'ai-ho  in  the  island 
of  Tsung-ming,  and  opened  this  house  as  a  physician's  establishment 
in  charge  of  one  of  your  servants  named  Lew  Yang-tsuen/  you  your- 
self visiting  it  occasionally.  His  Excellency  refers  to  a  former  com- 
plaint lodged  against  you  for  visiting  Ts'ing-kiang,  upon  which  subject 
you  appeared  before  Her  Majesty's  Consul.^  His  Excellency  also 
reports  that  Lew  Yang-tsuen,  Si  Sung-an  and  Ts'ien  Hai-yae  have 
been  arrested.^ 

Her  Majesty's  Consul  has  therefore  to  call  upon  you  to  appear 
at  this  office  without  delay,  in  order  that  he  may  investigate  the 
matter  above  referred  to. — I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Frederick  Harvey  (Vice-ConsuI). 

Of  course  he  vi^ent  at  once  and  explained  the  true  facts 
of  the  case,  which  were  Hstened  to  with  interest.  But  his 
plea  to  be  allowed  to  remain  on  at  Sin-k'ai-ho  where  all  now 
seemed  peax:eful  and  friendly  was  in  vain.  The  Consul 
reminded  him  that  the  British  Treaty  only  provided  for 
residence  in  the  five  ports,  and  that  if  he  attempted  to 
settle  elsewhere  he  rendered  himself  liable  to  a  fine  of  five 
hundred  dollars.*  But  there  was  a  supplementary  treaty, 
as  the  young  missionary  well  knew,  in  which  it  was  stipulated 
that  all  immunities  and  privileges  granted  to  other  nations 
should  apply  to  British  subjects  also.  Roman  CathoHc 
priests.  Frenchmen,  were  Hving  on  the  island  supported  by 
the  authority  of  their  Government,  and  why  should  he  be 
forbidden  the  same  consideration  ? 

Yes,  replied  the  Consul,  that  was  undoubtedly  a  point, 
and  if  he  wished  to  appeal  for  a  higher  decision.  Her  Majesty's 
representative  (Sir  John  Bowring)  would  be  arriving  in 
Shanghai  before  long.  But  as  far  as  his  own  jurisdiction 
went,  the  matter  was  at  an  end.     Mr.  Taylor  must  return 

^  Presumably  Kuei-hua's  full  literary  name. 

2  This  was  in  the  summer  after  Mr.  Taylor's  return  from  his  long  journey 
up  the  Yang-tze.  In  a  letter  to  his  mother  dated  July  29  he  referred  to 
the  circumstance  as  follows  : 

"  The  Chinese  authorities  have  had  me  up  before  the  Consul  for  ^^olating 
the  treaty  with  England  by  travelhng  in  the  interior.  He  said  very  little, 
not  more  than  he  was  obhged  to,  but  told  me  that  if  I  continued  to  exceed 
treaty  rights  his  position  admitted  of  no  respect  of  persons  ;  he  must 
punish  me  as  he  would  a  merchant." 

^  This  was  happily  incorrect :  no  one  had  been  arrested. 

*  Worth  at  that  time  considerably  over  a  hundred  pounds. 


A  PARISH  OF  A  MILLION  335 

to  Tsung-ming  at  once,  give  up  his  house,  remove  his 
belongings  to  Shanghai,  and  understand  that  he  was  hable 
to  a  fine  of  five  hundred  dollars  if  he  again  attempted 
residence  in  the  interior. 

Well  was  it  that  next  day  was  Sunday  and  he  had  time 
to  lay  it  all  before  the  Lord.  Little  by  httle  as  it  came 
over  him,  and  he  began  to  reahse  that  all  the  happy,  en- 
couraging work  at  Sin-k'ai-ho  must  be  suddenly  abandoned, 
it  seemed  almost  more  than  he  could  bear.  Those  young 
inquirers,  Chang,  Sung  and  the  others,  what  was  to  become 
of  them  ?  Were  they  not  his  own  children  in  the  faith  ? 
How  could  he  leave  them  with  no  help  and  so  httle  know- 
ledge in  the  things  of  God  ?  And  yet  the  Lord  had  per- 
mitted it.  The  work  was  His.  He  would  not  fail  nor 
forsake  them.  But  for  himself,  the  sorrow  and  disappoint- 
ment were  overwhelming. 

"  My  dear  mother/'  he  wrote  that  evening  (December  2),  "  my 
heart  is  sad^  sad,  sad.  I  came  over  to  Shanghai  last  Friday  .  .  .  and 
found  a  letter  awaiting  me  from  the  Consul,  dated  a  week  or  more 
previously.  I  lost  no  time  in  seeing  him,  and  have  been  prohibited 
from  residing  any  longer  on  Tsung-ming.  I  do  not  know  what  to 
think.  If  I  disobey,  I  incur  a  fine  of  $500,  and  may  bring  my  Chinese 
friends  into  trouble.  All  I  can  do  is  to  give  up  the  house  and  pray 
over  my  future  course.  .  .  . 

"  I  leave  to-night  at  i  a.m.  for  the  island.  .  .  .  Pray  for  me.  I  need 
more  grace,  and  live  far  below  my  privileges.  Oh  to  feel  more  as 
Moses  did  when  he  said,  '  Forgive  their  sin,  forgive  it,  .  .  .  and  if 
not,  blot  me  I  pray  thee  out  of  Thy  book  '  (Conquest's  Version)  .  .  . 
or  as  the  Lord  Jesus  when  He  said, '  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep.' 
I  do  not  want  to  be  as  a  hireling  who  flees  when  the  wolf  is  near,  nor 
would  I  lightly  run  into  danger  when  much  may  be  accomplished  in 
safety.  I  want  to  know  the  Lord's  will  and  have  grace  to  do  it,  even 
if  it  results  in  expatriation.  '  Now  is  my  soul  troubled,  and  what 
shall  I  say  ?  .  .  .  Father,  glorify  Thy  Name.'  Pray  for  me  that  I 
may  be  a  follower  of  Christ  not  in  word  only,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth." 

The  last  days  on  Tsung-ming,  however,  were  not  wholly 
sad.  It  was  hard  to  pack  up  and  send  everything  to  the 
boat ;  hard  to  answer  the  interrogations  of  neighbours  and 
bid  farewell  to  the  old  landlord  and  many  friends.  But 
the  very  parting  brought  with  it  elements  of  comfort. 


336  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Could  he  ever  forget,  for  example,  that  last  evening 
spent  with  the  inquirers  ? 

"  My  heart  will  be  truly  sorrowful,"  said  the  blacksmith, 
"  when  I  can  no  longer  join  you  in  the  daily  meetings." 

"  But  you  will  worship  in  your  own  family,"  replied  his 
friend.  "  Still  shut  your  shop  on  Sunday,  for  God  is  here 
whether  I  am  or  not.  Get  some  one  to  read  for  you,  and 
gather  your  neighbours  in  to  hear  the  Gospel." 

"  I  know  but  very  httle,"  put  in  Sung,  "  and  when  I 
read  I  by  no  means  understand  aU  the  characters.  My 
heart  is  grieved  because  you  have  to  leave  us  ;  but  I  do 
thank  God  He  ever  sent  you  to  this  place.  My  sins  once 
so  heavy  are  all  laid  on  Jesus,  and  He  daily  gives  me  joy  and 
peace." 

"  Come  again,  come  again,  Tai  Sien-seng,"  the  neighbours 
called  the  following  morning.  "  The  sooner  you  return  the 
better  !  We  shall  miss  the  good  doctor  and  the  Heavenly 
Words." 

"  It  is  hard  indeed  to  leave  them,"  he  wrote  in  the  freshness  of  his 
sorrow,  "  for  I  had  hoped  a  good  work  would  be  done  there.  Much 
seed  has  been  sown,  and  many  books  are  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 
It  rests  with  the  Lord  to  give  the  increase.  May  He  watch  over 
them,  for  Jesus'  sake." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

AS    RIVERS   OF   WATER   IN   A   DRY   PLACE 

December  1855.     Aet.  23. 

'*  And  a  man  shall  be  as  a  hiding-place  from  the  wind,  and 
a  covert  from  the  tempest  ;  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry 
place,  as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 
Spoken  primarily  of  the  Lord  and  wholly  true  of  Him  alone, 
yet  how  often  these  words  find  a  limited  and  human  but 
very  blessed  fulfilment  in  an  earthly  friendship  through 
which  He  comes  to  us  in  time  of  need.  Thus  it  was  for 
Hudson  Taylor  in  the  friendship  of  William  Burns. 

Alone,  perplexed  and  disappointed,  he  had  indeed  come 
to  a  time  o^  need.  The  restrictions  imposed  upon  him  as  a 
Protestant  missionary,  compared  with  the  liberty  granted 
to  priests  of  the  Romish  Church,  opened  up  a  difficulty  he 
had  not  anticipated  in  his  evangelistic  work.  And  how 
formidable  it  might  prove  ! 

"  Forbidden  to  reside  on  the  island,"  he  had  written  to  Mr.  Pearse 
on  his  return  journey  from  Tsung-ming,  "  and  finding  that  even 
travelling  into  the  country  and  remaining  for  a  short  time  is  an  in- 
fringement of  the  Treaty  which  may  be  visited  by  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  write  privately  and  enquire  wliether, 
in  case  I  should  be  fined  .  .  .  the  Society  would  be  responsible  for 
the  sum  ?  Also  whether,  if  circumstances  should  make  it  possible 
for  me  to  go  to  the  intenov ,  giving  iip  all  claim  to  Consular  protection, 
you  would  approve  my  doing  so  ?  Should  I  be  left  free  to  follow  this 
course  ?  Or  would  the  Society  object  to  one  of  their  missionaries 
adopting  such  a  position  ? 

"  Although  the  attempt  to  rent  a  house  and  reside  in  Tsung-ming 
has  met  with  failure,  we  must  be  very  thankful  for  what  has  been 

337  Z 


338  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

accomplished.  I  have  every  reason  to  hope  that  three  of  those  who 
profess  to  beheve  in  the  Lord  Jesus  are  sincere,  and  if  so  the  results 
will  last  to  all  eternity.  May  God  watch  over  them  and  bless  them. 
At  the  same  time  it  makes  it  all  the  harder  to  give  up  the  work.  Also 
I  cannot  hide  from  myself  that  the  results  to  the  landlord  and  others 
for  having  received  us  may  be  serious  in  the  extreme.  ...  All  we 
can  do  is  to  pray  for  their  protection.  '  It  is  better  to  trust  in  the 
Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  man.  It  is  better  to  trust  in  the 
Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes.'  God  grant  that  in  this  we 
may  not  be  confounded,  for  should  any  who  are  not  believers  suffer 
on  our  account,  it  would  indeed  be  grievous. 

"  Pray  for  me — pray  for  me  !  I  greatly  need  your  prayers.  I  do 
not  want  on  the  one  hand  to  flee  from  danger,  nor  on  the  other  to 
court  troubles,  or  from  lack  of  patience  to  hinder  future  usefulness. 
I  do  need  more  grace,  more  of  the  spirit  of  my  Master,  more  entire 
resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  greater  boldness  too.  These 
Mandarins  are  for  the  most  part  treacherous  and  cruel  in  the  extreme. 
...  It  will  need  no  small  faith  to  go  amongst  them  without  hope  of 
protection,  save  from  Him  to  Whom  '  all  power  '  is  given.  I  know 
we  ought  to  desire  no  more.  Would  I  were  living  in  that  state  of 
grace." 

The  British  Minister  was  expected  shortly,  but  Hudson 
Taylor  was  in  uncertainty  about  bringing  the  case  before 
him.  Sir  John  Bowring  was  not  likely  to  be  in  sympathy 
with  aggressive  missionary  effort,  and  should  he  confirm 
the  Consul's  action  it  would  only  add  to  the  difficulties  of 
a  situation  already  trying  enough.  And  yet  what  was  to 
be  done  ?  Stay  in  Shanghai  he  could  not,  where  so  many, 
comparatively,  were  occupying  the  field.  But  to  travel 
or  attempt  to  live  in  the  interior  had  become  a  serious 
matter. 

"  I  shall  probably  appeal  against  the  Consular  decision,"  he  con- 
tinued a  few  days  later.  ^  "  I  feel  the  importance  of  this  case  in  many 
respects.  It  will  test  the  footing  on  which  Protestant  missionaries 
really  stand,  and  if  I  am  still  forbidden  to  reside  in  the  interior  will 
at  any  rate  prevent  its  being  said  that  while  Romish  priests  deny 
themselves  the  pleasures  of  society,  etc.,  to  live  among  the  Chinese, 
we  are  not  willing  to  do  so. 

"  The  Gospel  must  be  preached  among  this  people,  and  if  owned  of 
God  the  opposition  of  Satan  is  sure  to  be  roused.    May  the  Lord 

1  A  letter  from  the  South  Gate  to  Mr.  Pearse,  dated  December  7,  1855. 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE 


339 


give  us  grace  and  boldness  to  do  our  duty  regardless  of  consequences, 
and  at  the  same  time  wisdom  to  avoid  unnecessary  dangers." 

But  Sir  John  Bowring  was  unaccountably  delayed  just 
then.  He  did  not  arrive  by  the  mail-steamer  on  which 
he  was  expected,  nor  by  the  next.  This  gave  time  for 
further  thought  and  prayer;  and  meanwhile  Hudson 
Taylor  was  brought  into  contact  with  the  one  prepared  of 
God  to  help  him. 

Beloved  all  over  Scotland  by  those  to  whom  he  had 
been  made  a  blessing,  the  name  of  Wilham  Burns  was  in  the 
best  sense  a  household  word.  For  where  in  town  or  country 
was  there  a  Christian  household  that  did  not  recall  with 
thankfulness  the  Revival  of  1839  ?  The  young  evangehst 
of  those  days,  moving  in  Pentecostal  power  from  place  to 
place,  everjrwhere  accompanied  by  marvellous  tokens  of 
the  divine  presence  and  blessing,  had  become  the  toil-worn 
missionary — his  hair  already  tinged  with  grey,  his  spirit  more 
mellow  though  no  less  fervent,  his  sympathies  enlarged 
through  experience  and  deeper  fellowship  with  the  sufferings 
of  Christ.^ 

Just  returned  to  China  after  his  first  and  only  furlough, 
Mr.  Bums  had  not  resumed,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
his  former  successful  work.  Others  were  caring  for  the 
little  flock  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Amoy,  and  prayerful 
interest  would  never  be  lacking  for  so  encouraging  a 
field.  If  difficulties  arose  he  could  at  once  return  ;  but 
failing  any  special  need,  he  felt  strongly  drawn  to  the 
Yang-tze  Valley  and  a  service  no  one  had  as  yet  been  able 
to  render. 

Nan-king  was  on  his  heart,  and  the  unknown  leaders  of 
the  Tai-ping  movement  in  whose  hands  the  future  of  China 
still  seemed  to  lie.  No  missionary  had  hitherto  succeeded 
in  reaching  them,  though  the  rebel  king  had  earnestly 
pleaded  for  Christian  teachers  to  aid  in  the  great  work  of 
national  regeneration  upon  which  he  thought  himself 
embarked.  Certainly  if  any  one  in  China  could  have 
strengthened  him   for   this  hopeless   task   it   would   have 

1  For  details  of  this  truly  Apostolic  life,  see  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  William 
Burns,  M.A..  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Islay  Burns.  D.D. 


340  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

been  William  Burns,  with  his  easy  mastery  of  the  language, 
intense  force  of  character  and  deeply  prayerful  spirit.  But 
as  events  had  already  proved,  this  was  not  the  purpose  for 
which  he  had  been  brought  to  central  China. 

Unsuccessful  in  his  attempt  to  reach  Nan -king,  Mr. 
Burns  had  returned  to  Shanghai  by  the  southern  reaches  of 
the  Grand  Canal,  much  impressed  with  the  need  and  accessi- 
bility of  that  part  of  the  country.  With  the  concurrence  of 
the  local  missionaries,  all  too  few  to  meet  the  overwhelming 
needs,  he  had  devoted  himself  for  several  months  to  its 
evangelisation — living  on  boats  in  very  simple  style,  and 
travelling  up  and  down  the  endless  waterways  spread  like 
a  network  over  the  vast  alluvial  plain.  Thus  it  was  that 
in  the  providence  of  God  he  was  still  in  that  locality  when 
Hudson  Taylor  returned  from  Tsung-ming,  and  engaged 
in  the  very  work  so  dear  to  the  younger  missionary's  heart. 

Where  and  how  they  met  does  not  appear,  but  one  can 
readily  believe  that  they  were  drawn  together  by  sympathies 
of  no  ordinary  kind.  The  grave,  keen -eyed  Scotsman 
soon  detected  in  the  English  missionary  a  kindred  spirit, 
and  one  sorely  in  need  of  help  that  he  might  give.  The 
attraction  was  mutual.  Each  was  without  a  companion, 
and  before  long  they  had  arranged  to  join  forces  in  the  work 
to  which  both  felt  specially  called. 

In  a  little  house  at  the  South  Gate  or  on  Mr.  Burns's  boat 
almost  the  first  subject  they  would  discuss  would  be  the 
difficulty  about  Tsung-ming  with  its  bearing  on  the  future, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  the  spiritual  point  of  view  of  the 
older  man  seemed  to  change  the  whole  situation.  It  was 
not  a  question  really  of  standing  on  one's  rights,  or  claimng 
what  it  might  be  justifiable  to  claim.  WTiy  deal  with 
second  causes  ?  Nothing  would  have  been  easier  for  the 
Master  to  Whom  "  All  power  "  is  given  than  to  have  estab- 
lished His  servant  permanently  on  the  island,  had  He  so 
desired  it.  And  of  what  use  was  it,  if  He  had  other  plans, 
to  attempt  to  carry  the  thing  through  on  the  strength  of 
Government  help  ?  No,  "  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must 
not  strive,"  but  must  be  willing  to  be  led  by  just  such 
indications  of  the  divine  will,  relying  not  on  the  help  of 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE     341 

man  to  accomplish  a  work  of  his  own  choosing,  but  on  the 
unfaihng  guidance,  resources  and  purposes  of  God. 

And  so,  very  thankfully,  Hudson  Taylor  came  to  realise 
that  all  was  well.  A  measure  of  trial  had  been  allowed,  over 
which  perhaps  he  had  felt  unduly  discouraged.  But  all 
was  in  wise  and  loving  hands.  Nothing  the  Lord  per- 
mitted could  lastingly  hinder  His  own  work.  And  all  the 
while  had  He  not  been  preparing  for  His  servant  this 
unexpected  blessing,  by  far  the  most  helpful  companionship 
he  had  ever  known  ? 


Tenth  Journey  :    December- January  1856 

It  was  the  middle  of  December  when  Hudson  Taylor 
left  Shanghai  once  more,  setting  out  on  his  tenth  evangel- 
istic journey,  the  first  with  Mr.  Burns.^  Travelling  in  two 
boats,  each  with  their  Chinese  helpers  and  a  good  supply 
of  literature,  they  were  at  the  same  time  independent  and  a 
comfort  to  one  another..^  Practical  and  methodical  in  all 
his  ways,  Mr.  Burns  had  a  line  of  his  own  in  such  work 
that  his  companion  was  glad  to  follow. 

Choosing  an  important  centre,  in  this  case  the  town  of 
Nan-zin,  just  south  of  the  Great  Lake,  in  Cheh-kiang,  they 
remained  there  eighteen  days,  including  Christmas  and  the 
New  Year.  Every  morning  they  set  out  early  with  a 
definite  plan,  sometimes  working  together  and  sometimes 
separating  to  visit  different  parts  of  the  town.  Mr.  Bums 
believed  in  beginning  quietly  on  the  outskirts  of  a  place 
in  which  foreigners  had  rarely  if  ever  been  seen,  and  working 
his  way  by  degrees  to  the  more  crowded  quarters.  Accord- 
ingly they  gave  some  days  to  the  suburban  streets,  preaching 
whenever  a  number  of  people  collected  and  giving  away 
Gospels  and  tracts.     This  was  repeated  in  all  the  quieter 

'  Residence  on  Tsung-ming  had  been  forbidden,  but  he  saw  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  accompany  another  missionary  to  whose  itinerations 
no  objection  had  been  raised. 

2  Mr.  Taylor  had  his  teacher  with  him,  but  Ts'icn  and  Kvei-hua  had 
been  sent  to  the  island  of  Hai-men  in  response  to  an  urgent  invitation 
from  two  gentlemen,  brothers,  who  had  received  books  on  Mr.  Taylor's 
visit  with  Mr.  Burdon  (see  Chap.  xxii.  p.  283),  and  desired  to  learn  more 
of  the  way  of  Salvation.  They  rejoined  Mr.  Taylor  at  Nan-zin  just  after 
the  New  Year. 


342  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

parts  of  the  town,  gradually  approaching  its  centre,  until  at 
length  they  could  pass  along  the  busiest  streets  without  en- 
dangering the  shopkeepers'  tempers  as  well  as  their  wares. 

Then  they  visited  temples,  schools  and  tea-shops,  re- 
turning regularly  to  the  most  suitable  places  for  preaching. 
These  were  usually  tea-shops  on  quiet  thoroughfares,  on 
open  spaces  left  by  demolished  buildings.  Announcing 
after  each  meeting  when  they  would  come  again,  they  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  same  faces  frequently,  and 
interested  hearers  could  be  invited  to  the  boats  for  private 
conversation. 

Of  those  busy  days,  always  begun  and  ended  with 
prayer  with  their  Chinese  helpers,  many  details  are  given 
in  Mr.  Taylor's  letters,  including  the  following  glimpse  into 
a  tea-shop,  showing  how  their  evenings  were  spent. 

It  was  December  28,  and  after  addressing  large,  attentive 
audiences  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  the  afternoon  had 
been  given  to  visitors  who  sought  them  out  on  their  boats. 
Darkness  had  fallen  before  they  could  think  of  supper, 
after  which  hghting  their  lanterns  they  saUied  forth  into  the 
winter  night.  It  was  not  far  to  the  tea-shops  at  which 
they  were  expected,  and  an  unseen  Friend  must  have  been 
present  with  them,  for  Mr.  Taylor's  journal  simply  records 
''  We  were  greatly  blessed." 

"  I  wish  I  could  picture  the  scene,"  he  continues.  "  Imagine  a 
large  dimly  lighted  room^  on  a  level  with  the  ground,  filled  with  square 
tables  and  narrow  forms,  so  arranged  that  eight  persons  might  be  seated 
at  each  table.  .  .  .  Scattered  about  the  room,  a  number  of  working 
men  were  drinking  tea  and  smoking  long  bamboo  pipes  with  brass 
heads,  while  a  boy  with  a  copper  kettle  went  to  and  fro  from  the  fire- 
place with  boiling  water. 

"  Hardly  had  we  entered  before  Mr.Burns's  lantern  began  to  attract 
attention.  It  was  an  ordinary  lantern  such  as  one  often  sees  in  England, 
with  glass  on  three  sides  and  a  plated  mirror  to  reflect  the  light,  but 
quite  a  curiosity  here.  Around  us  soon  gathered  a  group  of  questioners, 
some  of  whom  were  educated,  and  the  rest  workmen  of  more  or  less 
intelligence.  ...  I  was  in  native  dress  of  course,  and  Mr.  Bums  had 
on  a  Chinese  gown  that  hid  all  but  his  collar,  shoes,  and  a  cap  the 
peak  of  which  he  had  taken  off,  so  there  was  not  much  about  him  to 
look  at. 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE    343 

"  Before  long  the  conversation  became  interesting.  We  did  not  have 
to  make  a  way  so  to  speak  for  the  Gospel,  it  was  drawn  from  us  by 
their  own  questions.  One  asked,  '  Are  all  the  idols  false  ?  '  and 
another,  '  What  benefits  arise  from  believing  in  Jesus  ?  '  'If  Jesus 
is  in  heaven,  how  can  we  worship  Him  here  ?  '  was  a  very  natural 
question ;  while  one  who  had  not  understood  much  said  earnestly, 
'  Take  me  to  see  God  and  Jesus,  and  then  I  can  believe  on  them.' 
The  boy,  too,  as  he  went  about  filling  the  cups,  would  put  his  kettle 
down  upon  the  table,  and  folding  his  arms  over  it  listen  to  what  was 
being  said. 

'■'  Some  present  urged  Mr.  Burns  to  have  his  head  shaved  (in  front) 
and  wear  a  Chinese  cap  as  I  did.  They  were  sure  he  would  look  much 
better  so  !  And  one  man  who  has  followed  us  from  place  to  place 
insisted  on  paying  for  our  tea,  a  sum  equal  nearly  to  a  penny.  .  .  . 

"  We  were  enabled  to  speak  plainly  on  many  topics,  and  best  of  all 
our  Master  was  with  us."  ^ 

The  hint  given  in  the  tea-shop  was  not  without  effect, 
though  other  more  important  considerations  decided  Mr. 
Burns  upon  the  step  of  which  he  tells  in  the  following  letter. 
Ever  since  leaving  Shanghai  he  had  not  failed  to  notice 
the  benefit  derived  by  his  companion  from  wearing  Chinese 
dress.  Although  so  much  younger  and  in  every  way  less 
experienced,  Mr.  Taylor  had  the  more  attentive  hearers 
and  was  occasionally  asked  into  private  houses,  he  himself 
being  requested  to  wait  outside,  as  the  disturbance  occasioned 
by  his  presence  would  make  attention  impossible.  The 
riff-raff  of  the  crowd  always  seemed  to  gather  round  the 
preacher  in  foreign  dress,  while  those  who  wished  to  hear 
what  was  being  said  followed  his  less  noticeable  friend.  The 
result  was  a  conclusion  come  to  that  night  if  not  previously, 
and  communicated  to  his  mother  a  few  weeks  later  : 

Twenty-five  Miles  from  Shanghai, 
January  26,  1856. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  rainy  day  which  confines  me  to  my  boat, 
I  pen  a  few  lines  in  addition  to  a  letter  to  Dundee  containing  particulars 
which  I  need  not  repeat. 

It  is  now  forty-one  days  since  I  left  Shanghai  on  this  last  occasion. 
An  excellent  young  English  missionary,  Mr.  Taylor  of  the  Chinese 
Evangelisation  Society,  has  been  my  companion,  he  in  his  boat  and 

1  Extracted  from  Mr.  Taylor's  journal  for  December  28,  1855,  and  from 
a  letter  of  the  same  date. 


344  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

I  in  mine,  and  we  have  experienced  much  mercy,  and  on  some  occasions 
considerable  assistance  in  our  work.  .  .  . 

I  must  once  more  tell  the  story  I  have  had  to  tell  more  than  once 
already,  how  four  weeks  ago,  on  the  29th  of  December,  I  put  on 
Chinese  dress,  which  I  am  now  wearing.  Mr.  Taylor  had  made  this 
change  a  few  months  before,  and  I  found  that  he  was  in  consequence 
so  much  less  incommoded  in  preaching,  etc.,  by  the  crowd,  that  I 
concluded  that  it  was  my  duty  to  follow  his  example.  .  .  . 

We  have  a  large,  very  large,  field  of  labour  in  this  region,  though 
it  might  be  difficult  in  the  meantime  for  one  to  establish  himself  in 
any  particular  place.  The  people  listen  with  attention,  but  we  need 
the  power  from  on  high  to  convince  and  convert.  Is  there  any  spirit 
of  prayer  on  our  behalf  among  God's  people  in  Kilsyth  ?  Or  is  there 
any  effort  to  seek  this  spirit  ?  How  great  the  need  is,  and  how  great 
the  arguments  and  motives  for  prayer  in  this  case  !  The  harvest 
here  is  indeed  great,  and  the  labourers  are  few  and  imperfectly  fitted, 
without  much  grace,  for  such  a  work.  And  yet  grace  can  make  a  few, 
feeble  instruments  the  means  of  accomplishing  great  things — things 
greater  even  than  we  can  conceive. 

This  change  into  Chinese  dress  was  found  to  have  so 
many  advantages  that  Mr.  Burns  never  again  resumed 
European  clothing.  Among  the  people  of  Nan-zin  it  was 
received  with  cordial  favour.  Returning  from  the  tea-shop 
a  few  days  later,  both  the  missionaries  were  invited  by  one 
who  had  been  present  to  go  with  him  to  his  home  and 
repeat  there  the  wonderful  Story.  It  was  evening,  and 
they  had  already  been  preaching  for  a  couple  of  hours,  but 
such  invitations  were  none  too  frequent  and  they  gladly 
accompanied  him. 

"  It  was  very  interesting,"  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  to  one  of  his 
sisters,  "  to  see  all  the  family  collected  .  .  .  that  we  might  speak  to 
them  of  Him  Who  died  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  Close  to 
me  was  a  bright  little  girl  about  ten  years  of  age,  her  arms  crossed 
upon  the  table  and  her  head  resting  on  them.  Beside  her  was  her 
brother,  an  intelligent  boy  of  fourteen.  Next  came  Mr.  Burns  and 
on  his  other  side  a  young  man  of  twenty,  and  so  on.  The  men  sat 
round  the  table,  while  the  mother,  two  older  daughters  and  another 
woman  kept  in  the  background,  half  out  of  sight.  While  I  was  speak- 
ing, as  I  did  on  their  account,  of  the  prayers  of  my  mother  and  sister 
before  my  conversion,  I  noticed  that  they  were  attending  closely.  Oh, 
may  God  give  China  Christian  mothers  and  sisters  before  long  ! 
Returning  to  our  boats,  I  could  not  help  tears  of  joy  and  thankfulness 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE     345 

that  we  had  been  induced  to  adopt  this  costume,  without  which  we 
could  never  have  such  access  to  the  people." 

Of  the  comfort  of  the  dress  there  could  be  no  doubt. 

"  It  is  real  winter  now,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor  on  New  Year's  eve, 
"  and  the  north  wind  is  very  cutting.  But  instead  of  being  almost 
*  starved  to  death  '  as  I  was  last  year,  I  am  now,  thanks  to  the  Chinese 
costume,  thoroughly  comfortable  and  as  warm  as  toast. 

"  Indeed,  we  have  many  mercies  to  be  thankful  for.  A  good  boat, 
costing  about  two  shillings  a  day,  gives  me  a  nice  little  room  to  myself ; 
one  in  front  for  my  servant  to  sleep  in,  used  in  the  day-time  for  receiving 
guests  ;  and  a  cabin  behind  for  my  teacher,  as  well  as  a  place  for 
cooking,  storing  books,  etc.  My  tiny  room  has  an  oyster-shell  window 
that  gives  light  while  it  prevents  people  from  peeping  in,  ...  a  table 
at  which  I  write  and  take  meals,  ...  a  locker  on  which  my  bed  is 
spread  at  night,  .  .  .  and  a  seat  round  the  remaining  space,  so  that 
two  visitors,  or  even  three,  can  be  accommodated.  For  family  worship 
we  open  the  doors  in  front  and  behind  my  cabin,  and  then  the  boat- 
people,  teachers,  servant  and  Mr.  Bums  can  all  join  in  the  service.  ,  .  . 

"  How  very  differently  our  Master  was  lodged  !  '  Nowhere  to  lay 
His  head.'  And  this  for  my  sins — amazing  thought !  .  .  .  Then  I 
am  no  longer  my  own.  Bought  with  His  precious  blood  .  .  .  Oh, 
may  I  be  enabled  to  glorify  Him  with  my  whole  spirit,  soul  and  body, 
which  are  His." 

Deep  as  his  longing  had  ever  been  for  likeness  to  and 
felloM^ship  with  the  Lord,  Hudson  Taylor  was  increasingly 
conscious  of  this  heart -hunger  in  companionship  with 
WiUiam  Bums.  He,  too,  had  found  how  sadly  possible  it 
is  to  be  professedly  a  witness  for  Christ  amid  the  darkness 
of  a  heathen  land,  "  and  yet  breathe  little  of  the  love  of 
God  or  the  grace  of  the  Gospel."  Nothing  was  more  real 
to  him  than  the  fact  that  a  low-level  missionary  life  can, 
and  too  often  does,  make  even  "  the  cross  of  Christ  ...  of 
none  effect."  But  great  and  many  though  the  dangers  may 
be,  and  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  every  missionary  to 
lower  his  spiritual  standards  and  draw  him  away  from 
living  contact  with  the  Lord,  Mr.  Burns  had  proved  the 
faithfulness  of  that  divine  Master  in  coming  to  the  help  of 
His  own. 

"  I  was  preaching  last  Sabbath  day,"  he  WTOte  on  one  occasion, 
"from  Matthew  xxiv.  12,  'because  iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love 
of  many  shall  wax  cold  ' ;  and  alas  !  I  felt  they  were  solemnly  applic- 


346  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

able  to  my  own  state  of  heart.  Unless  the  Lord  the  Spirit  continually 
uphold  and  quicken,  oh  how  benumbing  is  daily  contact  with  heathen- 
ism !  But  the  Lord  is  faithful,  and  has  promised  to  be  '  as  rivers  of 
water  in  a  dry  place,  and  as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land.'  May  you  and  all  God's  professing  people  in  a  land  more 
favoured,  but  alas  !  more  guilty  also,  experience  much  of  the  Lord's 
own  presence,  power  and  blessing  ;  and  when  the  enemy  comes  in 
as  a  flood,  may  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord — nay,  it  is  said  '  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him.'  " 

Upon  such  promises  he  counted,  and  he  had  not  found 
them  fail.  The  presence  of  the  Lord  was  the  one  thing 
real  to  him  in  China  as  it  had  been  at  home.  "  He  did  not 
consider  that  he  had  a  warrant  to  proceed  in  any  sacred 
duty,"  his  biographer  tells  us,  "  without  a  consciousness  of 
that  divine  presence.  Without  it,  he  could  not  speak  even 
to  a  handful  of  little  children  in  a  Sunday  School ;  with 
it  he  could  stand  unabashed  before  the  mightiest  and 
wisest  in  the  land." 

Ruled  by  such  a  master-principle,  it  was  no  wonder  there 
was  something  about  his  life  that  impressed  and  attracted 
others  even  while  it  inspired  a  sense  of  awe.  The  brightest 
lamp  will  bum  dim  in  an  impure  or  rarefied  atmosphere, 
but  William  Burns  was  enabled  so  to  keep  himself  "  in  the 
love  of  God  "  that  he  was  but  little  affected  by  his  sur- 
roundings. Prayer  was  as  natural  to  him  as  breathing, 
and  the  Word  of  God  his  God  as  necessary  as  daily  food.^ 
He  was  always  cheerful,  always  happy,  witnessing  to  the 
truth  of  his  own  memorable  words  : 

I  think  I  can  say,  through  grace,  that  God's  presence  or  absence 
alone  distinguishes  places  to  me. 

1  "  His  whole  life  was  literally  a  life  of  prayer,  and  his  whole  ministry 
a  series  of  battles  fought  at  the  mercy-seat." 

"  Who  among  us  has  the  spirit  of  prayer?  "  he  wrote  from  Swatow. 
"  They  are  mighty  who  have  this  spirit,  and  weak  who  have  it  not." 

"  In  digging  in  the  field  of  the  Word,"  said  an  intimate  friend,  "  he 
threw  up  now  and  then  great  nuggets  which  formed  part  of  one's  spiritual 
wealth  every  after." 

"  He  was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and  his  greatest  power  ^n  preach- 
ing was  the  way  in  which  he  used  '  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit '  upon  men's 
consciences  and  hearts.  .  .  .  Sometimes  one  might  have  thought,  in 
listening  to  his  solemn  appeals,  that  one  was  hearing  a  new  chapter  in 
the  Bible  when  first  spoken  by  a  Uving  prophet." 

Quoted  from  the  Memoir  by  the  Rev.  Islay  Burns,  D.D.,  pp.  545, 
237.  549- 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE    347 

Simplicity  in  living  was  his  great  delight.  "  He  enjoyed 
quietness  and  the  luxury  of  having  few  things  to  take  care 
of,"  and  thought  the  happiest  state  on  earth  for  a  Christian 
was  "  that  he  should  have  few  wants." 

_  "  If  a  man  have  Christ  in  his  heart/'  he  used  to  say,  "  heaven  before 
his  eyes,  and  only  as  much  of  temporal  blessing  as  is  just  needful  to 
carr^  him  safely  through  life,  then  pain  and  sorrow  have  little  to  shoot 
at.  .  .  .  To  be  in  union  with  Him  Who  is  the  Shepherd  of  Israel, 
to  walk  very  near  Him  Who  is  both  sun  and  shield,  comprehends  all 
a  poor  sinner  requires  to  make  him  happy  between  this  and  heaven." ^ 

Cultured,  genial  and  overflowing  with  mother-wit,  he 
was  a  dehghtful  companion,  and  the  contrast — for  those 
who  knew  him  in  China — was  very  marked  between  "  the 
mind  and  thoughts  so  trained  to  higher  things  and  the 
heart  so  content  with  that  which  was  lowly."  A  wonderful 
fund  of  varied  anecdotes  gave  charm  to  his  society,  and 
he  was  generous  in  recalling  his  experiences  for  the  benefit 
of  others.  Many  a  time  his  Hfe  had  been  in  danger  in 
Ireland  and  elsewhere  at  the  hands  of  a  violent  mob,  and 
the  stories  he  had  to  tell  could  not  but  encourage  faith  and 
zeal,  although  at  times  they  might  provoke  a  smile. 

"  The  devil's  dead,"  shouted  one  Irish  voice  above  the 
uproar  of  a  crowd  determined  to  put  an  end  to  his  street- 
preaching.  It  was  a  perilous  moment,  for  the  shower  of 
mud  and  stones  was  increasing  and  there  was  no  possibility 
of  escape  should  the  rougher  element  prevail.  But  the 
quick-witted  reply,  touched  with  sarcasm,  "Ah  then,  you 
are  a  poor  fatherless  bairn  !  "  not  only  won  the  day,  but 
carried  home  a  deeply  solemn  lesson. 

Sacred  music  was  his  delight,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  young  companion.  Many  were  the  hymns  they  sang 
together  both  in  English  and  Chinese,  Hudson  Taylor,  no 
doubt,  appreciating  Mr.  Burns's  rendering  of  these  into 
colloquial  words  and  phrases,  for  the  use  of  the  illiterate. 
Their  intercourse  with  one  another  was  carried  on  almost 
entirely  in  the  language  of  their  native  helpers.  Mr.  Burns 
"  lived  by  choice  and  habitually  in  a  Chinese  element," 

^  Quoted  from  the  Memoir  by  the  Rev.  Islay  Burns,  D.D.,  p.  551. 


348  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  with  this  hne  of  things  and  the  courtesy  it  indicated 
toward  those  around  them,  Hudson  Taylor  was  in  fullest 
sympathy.  The  fact  that  they  did  not  belong  to  the  same 
missionary  society,  the  same  denomination,  the  same 
country  even,  made  no  difference  in  their  relations.  Bums 
was  far  too  large-hearted  to  be  narrowed  by  circumstances 
or  creeds.  "  He  was  at  home  with  all  Protestant  Christians," 
and  co-operated  with  missionaries  of  many  societies,  German, 
English  and  American,  with  the  greatest  goodwill  and 
the  most  Catholic  spirit,  aiming  at  the  advancement 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  rather  than  of  his  own  particular 
cause. 

Yet  his  faithfulness  to  conviction  was  unflinching,  and 
his  testimony  against  wrong -doing  never  withheld.  His 
denunciations  of  sin  could  be  terrible,  strong  men  cowering 
before  them,  pale  and  trembling,  under  an  overwhelming 
sense  of  the  divine  presence.  He  did  not  hesitate,  for 
example,  on  this  very  journey,  to  mount  the  stage  of  a 
Chinese  theatre  in  the  presence  of  thousands  of  people 
and  stop  an  immoral  play  in  full  swing,  calling  upon  the 
audience  gathered  under  the  open  heavens  to  repent  of 
their  iniquities  and  turn  to  the  Uving  God. 

But  it  was  toward  himself  he  was  most  of  all  severe,  in 
the  true  apostolic  spirit,  "  We  suffer  all  things,  lest  we 
should  hinder  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  There  are  glimpses 
in  his  journal  of  whole  days  or  nights  spent  in  prayer — 
"  seeking  personal  holiness,  the  fundamental  requisite  for 
a  successful  ministry."  Yet  he  felt  himself  wholly  unworthy 
to  represent  the  Lord  he  loved.  "  Oh,  that  I  had  a  martyr's 
heart,"  he  wrote,  "  if  not  a  martyr's  death  and  a  martyr's 
crown." 

And  this  man,  the  friendship  of  this  man  with  all  he 
was  and  had  been,  was  the  gift  and  blessing  of  God  at  this 
particular  juncture  to  Hudson  Taylor.  Week  after  week, 
month  after  month  they  lived  and  travelled  together,  the 
exigencies  of  their  work  bringing  out  resources  of  mind 
and  heart  that  otherwise  might  have  remained  hidden. 
Such  a  friendship  is  one  of  the  crowning  blessings  of  life. 
Money  cannot  buy  it ;    influence  cannot  command  it.     It 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE     349 

comes  as  love  unsought,  and  only  to  the  equal  soul.  Young 
and  immature  as  he  was,  Hudson  Taylor  had  the  capacity 
to  appreciate,  after  long  years  of  loneliness,  the  preciousness 
of  this  gift.  Under  its  influence  he  grew  and  expanded 
and  came  to  an  understanding  of  himself  and  his  providential 
position  that  left  its  impress  on  all  after-life.  William 
Bums  was  better  to  him  than  a  college  course  with  all  its 
advantages,  because  he  lived  out  before  him  right  there 
in  China  the  reality  of  all  he  most  needed  to  be  and  know. 

But  to  come  back  to  their  first  journey  together  on  the 
waterways  of  Cheh-kiang.  The  front  room  in  Mr.  Taylor's 
boat  was  made  good  use  of  during  the  eighteen  days  of  their 
stay  at  Nan-zin,  many  a  conversation  being  held  there 
with  interested  guests.  Early  in  their  stay,  a  young  man 
named  King  called  one  evening,  with  a  book  he  had  received 
elsewhere  from  other  foreigners.  He  was  evidently  im- 
pressed, and  told  them  that  he  wished  to  become  a  Christian. 
He  knew  very  little  of  the  truth,  however,  and  was  surprised 
to  learn  that  the  God  of  Thunder  must  be  abandoned  as 
well  as  otLer  idols.  Not  worship  the  God  of  Thunder  ? 
Why,  that  had  seemed  so  obvious  a  divinity  !  He  remained 
to  evening  worship,  kneeling  for  the  first  time  in  prayer  to 
the  true  and  living  God.  The  following  day  was  Sunday, 
and  the  missionaries  were  encouraged  to  see  him  at  both 
services.  But  on  Monday  business  called  him  away  from 
the  town,  and  they  could  but  commend  liim  to  God  and 
the  Word  of  His  Grace,  hoping  that  sometime,  somewhere, 
he  might  again  be  brought  into  touch  with  Christians. 

Hardly  had  he  left  them  when  several  visitors  came 
on  board,  two  of  whom  seemed  specially  interested.  They 
made  particular  enquiries  about  prayer  and  the  proper 
forms  of  Christian  worship.  But  when  after  a  good  deal 
of  conversation  Mr.  Taylor  proposed  to  pray  with  them, 
one  of  the  two  looked  very  uneasy  and  declined,  saj'ing 
he  was  really  too  ignorant,  and  moreover  was  expecting 
to  eat  pork  on  the  morrow  ! 

On  Christmas  eve,  a  few  days  later,  Mr.  Taylor  was 
explaining  to  some  guests  the  folly  and  sin  of  worshipping 


350  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

idols  when  it  is  to  the  one,  true  and  hving  God  we  are 
indebted  for  every  good  gift. 

"  But,"  said  one  of  his  hearers,  "  surely  you  are  too 
general  in  your  statement.  There  are  good  idols  as  well  as 
many  that  are  good-for-nothing." 

"  And  which  are  the  good  idols  ?  "  asked  the  missionary 
with  interest. 

Pointing  through  the  window  of  the  little  cabin  in  the 
direction  of  a  temple  near  at  hand,  "They  are  in  there," 
he  said.  "  Many  years  ago  two  men  came  to  our  town 
with  a  boat-load  of  rice  to  sell.  It  happened  that  the  time 
was  one  of  famine.  There  had  been  no  harvest  and  the 
people  were  in  much  distress.  Seeing  this,  the  strangers 
took  the  rice  and  gave  it  away  among  the  poorest.  Then, 
of  course,  they  had  no  face  to  go  home  again." 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  questioned  the  Ustener. 

"  Oh,  because  they  had  given  away  the  rice  instead  of 
selling  it." 

"  Then  it  was  not  their  own  ?  " 

"  No,  it  belonged  to  their  master.  And  as  they  dared 
not  meet  him  again  they  both  drowned  themselves  here  in 
the  river,  and  the  people  said  they  were  gods,  made  idols 
to  represent  them,  and  built  this  temple  in  which  they 
have  been  worshipped  ever  since." 

"  Then  your  'good  idols,'"  said  the  missianary,  "are  men, 
only  men  to  begin  with,  who  stole  their  master's  property 
and  then  sinned  yet  further  by  taking  their  own  lives." 

It  was  a  good  starting-point  from  which  to  tell  of  the 
true  and  living  God  Who  "  gave  His  only  begotten  Son 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life." 

Again  on  the  last  Sunday  in  the  year  they  were  encouraged 
by  really  interested  enquirers.  Returning  to  their  boats  in 
the  twilight  after  a  long  day's  work  ashore,  Mr.  Taylor 
found  a  young  man  waiting  who  had  called  several  times 
previously.  He  seemed  specially  earnest  that  evening, 
and  said  : 

"  I  have  read  seventeen  chapters  in  the  first  book  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  find  it  very  good." 


AS  RIVERS  OF  WATER  IN  A  DRY  PLACE    351 

He  was  soon  joined  by  a  friend  who  had  also  heard  a 
good  deal  of  the  Gospel,  and  together  they  listened  seriously 
while  Mr.  Taylor  appHed  the  truth  to  their  own  lives. 
Before  leaving  they  knelt  in  prayer,  and  the  first  of  the  two 
at  any  rate  seemed  not  far  from  the  Kingdom. 

On  New  Year's  day  a  good  opportunity  was  found  in 
the  tea-shop  of  emphasising  the  difference  between  Buddhism 
and  Christian  faith  and  experience.  Seated  as  usual  at 
one  of  the  little  tables,  Mr.  Taylor  was  speaking  with  a 
good  deal  of  liberty  when  a  superior  sort  of  man  came  and 
sat  down  beside  him. 

"  Ah,"  he  put  in,  "  your  doctrines — as  to  truth,  they 
are  true  enough.  But  these  people  are  Buddhists,  and 
worship  their  meaningless  idols.  They  will  never  believe 
you.  Their  hearts  are  in  the  midst  of  their  internals  ; 
who  is  able  to  turn  them  about  ?  It  is  a  pity  to  waste 
time  and  strength  on  the  U-min,  the  stupid  populace."  ^ 

"  Alas,"  replied  the  missionary,  "  what  you  say  is  but 
too  true.  The  religion  of  Jesus  is  indeed  good,  but  you 
are  wedded  to  your  idols  and  cannot  turn  your  hearts  about, 
neither  can  I  change  them  for  you." 

He  then  dwelt  for  a  time  upon  the  evils  of  Buddhism — 
which  taught  men  to  give  to  the  work  of  their  own  hands 
the  adoration  due  to  God  alone  ;  which  made  it  meritorious, 
as  in  the  case  of  priests,  to  cease  to  care  about  their  parents 
even  if  they  were  aged  and  in  want ;  which  forbade  the 
eating  of  pork,  but  not  the  use  of  opium ;  prevented 
marriage,  but  not  adultery  ;  and  taught  that  a  bad  man's 
soul  might  be  released  from  hell  if  his  friends  would  pay 
for  the  performance  of  certain  rites,  while  a  good  man 
would  be  left  to  suffer  if  his  family  happened  to  be  poor  and 
could  not  give  all  the  priests  demanded. 

"  But  though  our  sins  are  heavy,"  he  continued,  "  and 
we  can  do  nothing  to  put  them  away,  the  Lord  Jesus  is 
able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  can  not 
only  turn  but  renew  our  hearts.  Confucius  cannot  do 
this  ;    Buddha  cannot  do  this  ;    but  the  Lord  Jesus  can. 

1  Confucianists,  i.e.  scholarly  men,  affect  to  despise  Buddhism  and  its 
grosser  forms  of  idolatry,  together  with  many  superstitions  of  the  un- 
educated. 


352  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

And  this  is  the  rehgion  that  not  only  scholars  but  the  poor 
and  unlearned  need." 

"  True,  true,"  said  the  listeners,  many  of  whom  had 
been  following  every  word,  and  the  self-satisfied  first 
speaker  moved  silently  away. 

It  was  the  following  day  that  returning  to  their  boats 
after  dark  they  met  with  unexpected  encouragement. 
Accompanied  by  a  group  of  friendly  people  Mr.  Burns 
paused  on  the  river-bank,  talking  with  them  long  and 
earnestly  before  parting  for  the  night, 

"  What  do  you  think  of  it  all  ?  "  said  one  man  quietly 
to  another.     "  Do  you  believe  in  this  doctrine  of  Jesus  ?  " 

"  Believe  ?  I  certainly  beheve  !  "  replied  his  friend, 
little  thinking  of  the  joy  with  which  Hudson  Taylor  over- 
heard his  answer. 

Thus  day  after  day  the  good  seed  was  scattered,  smd 
though  there  was  no  immediate  ingathering  such  as  Mr. 
Burns  had  seen  previously  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Amoy, 
he  and  his  companion  could  not  but  feel  that  their  prayers 
were  being  answered  for  Nan-zin. 

"  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  of  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
this  place,"  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  to  his  sister.  "  The  Lord  has  not 
been  pleased  to  grant  this.  But  there  are  many  who  have  learned  a 
good  deal  of  the  way  of  salvation,  and  some  have  bowed  the  knee 
with  us  in  prayer,  confessing  that  they  believed  in  the  truth  of  our 
teachings.  As  yet  we  have  seen  no  deep  conviction  of  sin,  nor  evidence 
of  real  change  of  heart.  The  seed  when  it  is  sown,  however,  rarely 
springs  up  at  once.  It  often  lies  a  winter,  but  harvest  comes.  So 
here,  though  we  see  not  all  we  could  wish  at  present,  we  know  that 
our  labour  is  '  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

UNDER  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ALMIGHTY 

January  1856.     Aet.  23. 

Black  Town  would  have  been  the  last  place  to  include  in 
their  itinerary  had  they  been  considering  personal  comfort 
or  safety.  Half-way  between  two  great  cities  ^  and  near 
the  border  of  the  province  it  was  a  refuge  for  the  unruly, 
many  of  whom  were  salt-smugglers  of  desperate  character. 
But  it  was  close  at  hand,  only  one  day's  journey  from 
Nan-zin,  ai^d  it  had  never  yet  been  visited  by  messengers 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  This  in  itself  was  sufficient  to 
take  our  travellers  thither,  and  though  their  visit  was  cut 
short  by  reason  of  serious  danger,  they  were  enabled  to 
learn  as  well  as  teach  important  lessons. 

Dropping  anchor  on  Monday,  January  7,  near  this 
important  place  (Wu-tien),  they  commenced  work  by  dis- 
tributing several  hundreds  of  sheet-tracts  in  the  outlying 
streets.  This  aroused  considerable  interest,  and  of  the 
crowds  that  gathered  round  them  Mr.  Taylor  was  able  to 
write  :  "  I  never  spoke  to  more  attentive  audiences,  nor 
saw  such  seriousness  among  the  Chinese  before." 

Following  the  same  plan  as  at  Nan-zin,  they  visited  the 
suburbs  on  the  farther  side  of  the  town  next  morning, 
and  selected  a  tea-shop  for  the  purposes  of  a  street-chapel. 
Not  far  from  the  boats  a  great  concourse  of  people  was 
addressed  later  in  the  day. 

1  The  Fu  cities  of  Hu-chow  near  the  Great  Lake  and  Ka-shing  on  the 
Grand  Canal. 


353 


2  A 


354  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  The  Lord  graciously  helped  us,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  and  we  were 
heard  with  marked  attention.  In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  tea-shop 
and  found  several  persons  waiting  who  had  come  expressly  to  meet  us. 
Our  lips  were  opened,  and  people  listened  with  evident  interest.  .  .  . 
Some  even  seemed  to  believe,  and  nearly  all  approved,  or  seemed  to 
approve,  what  we  were  teaching." 

Encouraged  by  this  good  beginning  the  missionaries  were 
looking  forward  to  much  blessing,  when  all  unexpectedly 
troubles  arose  from  which  they  were  delivered  only  by  a 
series  of  remarkable  providences. 

It  began  quite  suddenly  through  the  annoyance  of  a 
group  of  men,  afterwards  found  to  be  salt-smugglers,  who 
could  not  obtain  all  the  books  they  wanted.  Tracts  and 
Gospek  were  given  freely  to  those  who  could  read,  but, 
as  elsewhere,  they  were  withheld  from  wholly  unlettered 
persons.  This  resulted  in  an  attack  upon  the  boats  in 
which  happily  no  one  was  injured,  though  one  of  the  cabins 
was  battered  in. 

As  soon  as  quiet  was  somewhat  restored,  we  all  met  in  Mr.  Burns' 
boat  and  joined  in  thanksgiving  for  our  preservation,  praying  for  the 
perpetrators  of  the  mischief  and  that  it  might  be  over-ruled  for  good. 

After  lunch  we  went  ashore,  and  but  a  few  steps  from  the  boats 
addressed  a  large  concourse  of  people.  We  were  conscious  of  being 
specially  helped.  Never  were  we  heard  with  more  attention,  and  not 
one  voice  was  raised  in  sympathy  with  those  who  had  molested  us. 
In  the  evening  the  same  spirit  was  manifested  in  the  tea-shop,  and 
some  seemed  to  hear  with  joy  the  tidings  of  salvation  through  a  crucified 
Redeemer. 

Again  on  the  following  day  (January  ii)  the  Word  was 
in  power.  Visited  by  two  northern  men,  Mr.  Taylor  was 
greatly  helped  in  telling  them  of  Jesus.  One  did  not  pay 
much  attention  but  the  other  did,  asking  question  after 
question  that  showed  the  interest  he  was  feehng.  After 
they  left  him,  the  young  missionary  went  on  shore  and  in 
a  garden  full  of  mulberry-trees  found  a  company  of  people 
to  whom  Kuei-hua  had  been  speaking.^ 

1  Ts'ien  and  Kuei-hua,  Mr.  Taylor's  valued  helpers,  had  just  rejoined 
him,  having  returned  from  their  visit  to  the  island  of  Hai-men.  See 
Chap.  XXVII.  p.  341. 


UNDER  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ALMIGHTY  355 

"  The  sun  was  just  setting,"  he  wrote,  "  and  supphed  me  with  a 
striking  simile  of  hfe.  ...  As  I  spoke  of  the  uncertainty  of  its  dura- 
tion and  the  nearness  of  the  Lord's  return,  deep  seriousness  prevailed 
A  Buddhist  priest  who  was  present  was  constrained  afterwards  to 
confess  that  Buddhism  was  a  system  cf  delusions  and  could  give  no 
peace  in  death.  When  I  engaged  in  prayer  all  were  silent  and  im- 
pressed, and  my  own  soul  was  deeply  moved  with  the  solemnity  of 
the  scene." 

Trouble  was  at  hand,  however,  for  the  salt-smugglers 
were  intent  on  getting  more  than  a  few  books  from  the 
foreigners.  On  Saturday  the  12th,  fifty  of  these  desperate 
characters  assembled  in  a  tea-shop  near  the  river  and  sent 
one  of  their  number,  professing  to  be  a  constable,  with  a 
written  demand  for  ten  dollars  and  a  pound  of  opium. 
If  this  were  forthcoming  the  boats  would  be  left  in  peace  ; 
if  not,  fifty  men  were  determined  to  destroy  them  before 
morning. 

The  day  was  already  drawing  in,  and  the  missionaries 
had  gone  ashore  to  visit  the  farther  end  of  the  town.  Sung, 
the  teacher,  was  alone  with  the  boat-people  and,  like  them, 
not  a  little  alarmed  at  the  turn  events  were  taking.  Having 
no  money  and  of  course  no  opium,  all  he  could  do  was  to 
go  in  search  of  his  employers,  giving  a  hint  to  the  boat- 
people  to  make  the  most  of  any  opportunity  to  get  away. 
Knowing  that  the  missionaries  had  planned  to  preach  in  a 
tea-shop  at  the  east  end  of  the  town,  he  set  off  on  a  walk 
of  two  miles  or  more  to  find  them  ;  and  the  constable, 
quite  willing  to  let  him  go  alone,  returned  to  report  progress 
to  those  who  had  sent  him. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Bums  and  Mr.  Taylor  had  been  led  to 
change  their  plans.  As  they  were  going  eastward  it 
occurred  to  them  that  some  interested  inquirers  might  be 
expecting  them  at  the  usual  meeting-place,  and,  under  a 
strong  impression  that  they  should  return  at  once,  they 
retraced  their  steps  to  the  tea-shop  nearer  the  river.  Thus 
Sung  was  not  able  to  trace  them,  and  while  he  was  occupied 
in  the  search  the  boat-people  had  an  opportunity  to  move 
quietly  away. 

For  the  night  which  had  been  fine  and  clear  now  became 


356  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

intensely  dark.  Knowing  it  would  be  some  time  before 
Sung  could  return,  the  men  who  were  awaiting  the 
missionaries  called  for  more  tea,  for  which  the  foreigners 
were  to  pay  to  the  extent  of  three  hundred  cash,  and 
settled  themselves  down  to  smoke  and  play  cards.  Un- 
observed for  the  moment,  and  aided  by  the  welcome  dark- 
ness, the  boats  weighed  anchor  and  moved  off,  one  in  one 
direction  and  one  in  another,  so  that  if  either  were  discovered 
and  attacked  the  other  might  afford  a  refuge  for  the 
missionaries.  This  done  the  captain  went  ashore,  and, 
keeping  out  of  sight  among  the  shadows,  watched  anxiously 
for  his  passengers. 

And  strange  to  say  he  had  not  long  to  wait.  No  one 
had  come  to  the  tea-shop  to  meet  the  missionaries,  and  the 
few  people  they  found  there  were  singularly  inattentive. 
Earlier  than  usual  Mr.  Burns  proposed  returning  to  the 
boats,  and,  leaving  Ts'ien  and  Kuei-hua  to  talk  with  any 
who  desired  it,  they  set  out  for  the  river,  hoping  to  distribute 
their  remaining  tracts  by  the  way.  But  the  night  was  so 
dark  that  few  people  were  on  the  streets,  and  for  the  first 
time  since  they  arrived  in  Black  Town  no  one  followed 
them. 

Thus  when  Mr.  Burns'  lantern  appeared,  the  boatman 
found  to  his  relief  that  the  missionaries  were  alone.  Going 
up  to  them  he  took  the  light  and  blew  it  out,  instead  of 
carrying  it  on  in  front  as  they  expected.  Surprised  at  the 
strangeness  of  his  manner  they  would  have  relighted  it, 
seeing  which  he  removed  the  candle,  threw  it  into  the  canal, 
and  walked  down  in  silence  to  the  water's  edge.  Fearful 
lest  he  had  lost  his  reason  and  might  drown  himself,  Mr. 
Taylor  ran  forward  to  restrain  him  ;  but,  with  a  manner 
that  effectually  silenced  them,  the  captain  said  that  a 
niunber  of  men  were  intent  on  destroying  the  boats  which 
had  moved  away  to  avoid  them.  He  then  cautiously  led 
the  way  to  where  one  of  the  boats  were  waiting.  Before 
long  Ts'ien  and  Kuei-hua  were  brought  on  board,  and  Sung 
also  joining  them  they  were  able  to  move  off  in  safety. 

The  meaning  of  the  mystery  was  then  explained,  and 
with  thankfulness  each  one  of  the  little  party  realised  that 


UNDER  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ALMIGHTY  357 

the  Lord  had  been  thinking  upon  them  in  that  hour  of 
danger.  Sung  especially  was  conscious  of  His  providential 
care,  for  on  reaching  the  place  where  the  boats  had  been 
moored  when  he  left  them,  he  found  a  dozen  or  twenty  men 
searching  among  the  trees,  and  heard  them  asking  with 
astonishment  what  could  have  become  of  the  foreigners. 
They  even  inquired  of  him,  not  recognising  who  he  was, 
and  he  was  just  as  puzzled  as  they  were  to  know  where 
the  boats  could  be.  Happily  he  met  one  of  the  boatmen 
a  little  farther  on,  who,  without  word  or  sign,  led  him  to  his 
companions. 

"  After  a  while  the  boats  joined  company,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor, 
"  and  rowed  together  quite  a  distance.  It  was  already  late,  and  to 
travel  by  night  in  that  part  of  the  country  was  not  the  way  to  avoid 
dangers,  so  the  question  arose  as  to  what  should  be  done.  This  we 
left  the  boat-people  to  decide.  They  had  moved  off  of  their  own 
accord,  and  we  felt  that  whatever  we  personally  might  desire,  we 
could  not  constrain  others  to  remain  in  a  position  of  danger  on  our 
account.  We  urged  them  to  do  quickly  whatever  they  thought  of 
doing,  as  the  morrow  was  the  Lord's  Day  and  we  should  not  wish  to 
travel.  We  also  reminded  them  that  wherever  we  were  we  must 
fulfil  our  mission,  to  preach  the  Gospel.  It  would  make  but  little 
difference  where  we  stayed,  for  even  if  we  passed  the  night  unper- 
ceived  we  were  sure  to  be  found  out  the  following  morning.  Upon 
this  the  men  concluded  that  they  might  as  well  return  to  the  place 
from  which  we  had  started,  a  decision  with  which  we  fully  agreed, 
and  they  turned  back  accordingly.  But  whether  by  accident  or  on 
purpose,  they  got  into  another  stream,  and  rowed  on  for  some  time 
they  knew  not  whither.  At  last  as  it  was  very  dark  they  dropped 
anchor  for  the  night. 

We  then  called  them  all  together  with  our  native  assistants  and 
read  the  ninety-first  Psalm.  .  .  . 

He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High 

Shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty. 

I  will  say  of  the  Lord,  He  is  my  refuge  and  my  fortress 

My  God,  in  Him  will  I  trust.  .  .  . 

Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  for  the  terror  by  night,  nor  for  the  arrow 
that  flieth  by  day.  .  .  . 

Because  He  hath  set  His  love  upon  me,  therefore  will  I  deliver  him. 

I  will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath  known  My  name. 

He  shall  call  upon  Me  and  I  will  answer  him. 

I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble  : 


358  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

I  will  deliver  him  and  honour  him. 

With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him,  and  show  him  My  salvation. 

Then  committing  ourselves  to  His  care  and  keeping,  Who  had 
covered  us  with  thick  darkness  and  enabled  us  to  escape  the  hand  of 
violent  men  ...  we  passed  the  night  in  peace  and  quietness,  realising 
in  some  measure  the  truth  of  that  precious  Word, '  He  is  their  help  and 
their  shield.' 

The  following  morning  I  was  awakened  about  4  a.m.  by  violent 
pain  in  the  knee-joint.  I  had  bruised  it  the  day  before,  and  severe 
inflammation  was  the  result.  To  my  great  surprise  I  heard  the  rain 
pouring  down  in  torrents,  the  weather  having  previously  been  particu- 
larly fine.  On  looking  out  we  found  ourselves  so  near  our  former 
stopping-place  that  had  nothing  happened  to  prevent  it  we  should 
have  felt  it  our  duty  to  go  into  the  town  to  preach  as  usual.  But  the 
rain  was  so  heavy  all  day  long  that  no  one  could  leave  the  boats,  and 
much  inquiry  about  us  was  also  prevented.  We  thus  enjoyed  a 
delightful  day  of  rest,  such  as  we  had  not  had  for  some  time.  Had  the 
day  been  fine  we  should  most  likely  have  been  discovered  even  if 
we  had  not  left  the  boats  ;  but  as  it  was  we  were  left  to  think  with 
wonder  and  gratitude  of  the  gracious  dealings  of  our  God,  who  had 
indeed  led  us  apart  into  a  desert-place  to  rest  awhile. 

Monday  was  a  cloudless  morning  and  Mr.  Bums  was 
preparing  to  go  ashore  when  one  of  the  assistants,  who  had 
been  early  to  fetch  some  clothing  left  with  a  laundress, 
returned  with  serious  tidings.  In  spite  of  the  drenching 
rain  of  Sunday  the  salt-smugglers  had  been  seeking  them 
in  all  directions,  and  imless  they  made  good  their  escape 
the  boats  would  certainly  be  found  and  broken  to  pieces. 

Thoroughly  alarmed,  the  boat-people  would  remain  no 
longer  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wu-tien,  and  Mr.  Taylor 
being  quite  unable  to  walk,  the  missionaries  had  no  choice 
but  to  leave  with  them.  This  also  seemed  providential,  for 
by  evening  it  was  evident  that  he  was  really  ill  and  must 
return  to  Shanghai  for  rest  and  treatment.  They  had  been 
absent  already  more  than  a  month,  and  much  as  he  regretted 
leaving  Mr.  Bums  to  continue  the  work  alone,  he  did  so 
in  the  assurance  that : 

111  that  God  blesses  is  our  good, 

And  unblest  good  is  ill : 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  %vrong. 
If  it  be  His  sweet  will. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

STEDFAST,    UNMOVABLE 

February-April  1856.     Aet.  23. 

It  was  the  middle  of  February,  and  Mr.  Bums  and  Mr. 
Taylor  were  again  in  Shanghai  after  some  weeks'  absence. 
It  had  been  a  keen  disappointment  to  them  to  leave  the 
neighbourhood  of  Wu-tien  where  the  openings  had  seemed 
so  promising,  and  now  they  had  returned  from  another 
journey  ^  to  obtain  fresh  supplies  and  go  back  if  possible 
to  that  pait  of  the  country.  But  the  Lord  had  other 
plans  in  view. 

"  He  was  leading  us,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  by  a  way  that  we  knew 
not :  but  it  was  none  the  less  His  way." 

O  Lord,  how  happy  should  we  be 
If  we  would  cast  our  care  on  Thee, 

If  we  from  self  would  rest  ; 
And  feel  at  heart  that  One  above 
In  perfect  wisdom,  perfect  love. 

Is  working  for  the  best. 

Glad  to  be  once  more  among  fellow-missionaries,  Mr.  Bums 
and  Mr.  Taylor  had  come  up  from  their  boats  that  wintry 
night  to  the  prayer-meeting  at  Dr.  Medhurst's  near  the 
British  Consulate.  This  weekly  gathering  was  a  rendezvous 
for  all  in  Shanghai  who  cared  about  the  Lord's  work,  and 
on  this  occasion  a  Christian  captain  was  present  whose 
vessel  had  just  arrived  from  Swatow. 

^  This  second  campaign  with  Mr.  Bums  lasted  between  two  and  three 
weeks.  They  left  Shanghai  for  Sung-kiang  Fu  on  January  28  or  29,  return- 
ing about  February  18,  1856.  It  was  Mr.  Taylor's  Eleventh  Evangelistic 
Journey  since  reaching  China. 

359 


36o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

His  heart  was  unspeakably  burdened  with  the  condition 
of  things  in  that  southern  port  to  which  he  carried  cargo 
and  passengers  from  time  to  time.  An  important  and 
growing  centre  of  commerce,  it  was  the  resort  of  increasing 
numbers  of  people  greedy  of  gain  and  wholly  unscrupulous 
in  their  ways  of  obtaining  it.  The  opium  trade  and  the 
equally  iniquitous  "  coohe  traffic  "  were  carried  on  with 
shameless  activity.  Piracy  flourished  to  such  an  extent 
that  even  Chinese  merchants  had  taken  to  shipping  their 
goods  in  foreign  vessels  that  they  might  obtain  the  pro- 
tection of  British  and  other  flags.  Thus,  although  Swatow 
was  not  an  open  port  and  foreigners  had  no  business  to 
be  there  as  far  as  treaty  rights  were  concerned,  quite  a  Euro- 
pean settlement  had  sprung  up,  connived  at  by  the  local 
authorities.  On  Double  Island,  five  miles  out  of  Swatow, 
captains  of  opium-ships  and  other  foreigners  had  bought 
land  and  built  houses  just  as  they  might  at  Hong-kong, 
their  presence,  sad  to  say,  only  increasing  the  vices  of  this 
notoriously  wicked  place.  And  neither  there  nor  in  Swatow 
itself  was  there  any  witness  for  Christ  or  any  influence 
that  made  for  righteousness.  No  missionary,  minister,  or 
foreign  lady  was  to  be  found  nearer  than  Amoy,  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  away  ;  and  in  the  absence  of  family  hfe,  as 
well  as  the  restraints  of  law  and  order,  the  condition  of 
things  was  as  bad  as  it  could  be. 

From  this  place  Captain  Bowers  had  just  come,  and  he 
could  not  but  seek  prayer  on  its  behalf  in  the  meeting 
at  Dr.  Medhurst's.  In  conversation  afterwards,  especially 
wdth  Mr.  Burns  and  'Mr.  Taylor,  he  urged  the  importance  of 
Swatow  as  a  centre  for  missionary  operations.  If  merchants 
and  traders  could  live  there,  of  all  nationalities,  why  should 
not  ministers  of  the  Gospel  ?  But  the  missionary  who 
would  pioneer  his  way  amid  such  darkness  must  not  be 
afraid,  he  said,  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  "  the  off-scourings  of 
Chinese  society,  congregated  there  from  aU  the  Southern 
ports."  It  was  Wu-tien  truh-,  but  on  a  more  desperate 
scale  ! 

Silently  that  evening  the  friends  returned  to  their  boats, 
thinking  of  what  they  had  heard.     To  Hudson  Taylor,  at 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  361 

any  rate,  the  call  of  God  had  come  while  Captain  Bowers 
was  speaking,  and  he  was  struggling  against  rebeUion  of 
heart  in  view  of  the  sacrifice  involved. 

"  Never  had  I  had  such  a  spiritual  father  as  Mr.  Bums,"  he  wrote 
long  after;  "  never  had  I  known  such  holy,  happy  intercourse  ;  and 
I  said  to  myself  that  it  could  not  be  God's  will  that  we  should  separate." 

Thus  several  days  passed  by,  and  he  could  not  escape  the 
conviction  that  Swatow  was  where  the  Lord  would  have 
him. 

"  In  great  unrest  of  soul,"  he  continued,  "  I  went  with  Mr.  Burns 
one  evening  to  visit  some  American  friends  near  the  South  Gate  of 
Shanghai.!  After  tea,  Mrs.  Lowrie  played  o\'er  to  us  '  The  Missionary 
Call.'  I  had  never  heard  it  before,  and  it  greatly  affected  me.  My 
heart  was  almost  broken  before  it  was  finished,  and  I  said  to  the 
Lord  in  the  words  that  had  been  sung  : 

And  I  will  go. 

I  may  no  longer  doubt  to  give  up  friends  and  idol  hopes. 

And  every  tie  that  binds  the  heart  .  .  . 

Henceforth  then  it  matters  not  if  storm  or  sunshine  be  my 

earthly  lot,  bitter  or  sweet  my  cup  ; 
I  only  pray,  God  make  me  holy,  and  my  spirit  ner\e  for  the 

stern  hour  of  strife. 

"  Upon  leaving,  I  asked  Mr.  Burns  to  come  to  the  little  house  that 
was  still  my  headquarters,  and  there  with  many  tears  I  told  him  how 
the  Lord  had  been  leading  me,  and  how  rebellious  I  had  been,  and 
unwilling  to  leave  him  for  this  new  sphere.  He  listened  with  a  strange 
look  of  surprise  and  pleasure  rather  than  of  pain,  and  replied  that  he 
had  determined  that  very  night  to  tell  me  that  he  had  heard  the  Lord's 
call  to  Swatow,  and  that  his  one  regret  had  been  the  severance  of  our 
happy  fellowship." 

Thus  the  Lord  not  only  gave,  but  gave  back,  the  com- 
panionship that  meant  so  much  in  the  hfe  of  Hudson  Taylor. 
Together  they  went  next  morning  to  Captain  Bowers  and 
told  him  that  the  way  seemed  clear  for  them  both  to  go  to 
Swatow.  So  overjoyed  was  the  captain  to  hear  it  that  he 
offered  them  forthwith  a  free  passage  on  his  ship  which 
was  returning  in  a  few  days.     This  was  gratefully  accepted, 

1  The  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Lowrie,  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
AlissioD. 


362  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  on  March  6,  two  years  from  Mr.  Taylor's  first  arrival 
in  Shanghai,  they  sailed  for  their  new  field  of  labour. 

Anchored  in  a  fog  that  night  off  Gutzlaff  Island,  every- 
thing must  have  recalled  to  Hudson  Taylor  the  Februaiy 
Sunday  when  he  first  reached  that  spot.^  Then  he  had 
never  seen  the  shores  of  China  nor  looked  into  the  face  of 
any  one  belonging  to  that  land.  Now  how  famihar  it  had 
grown  !  Many  and  varied  had  been  his  experiences,  trans- 
forming the  lad  fresh  from  the  old  country  into  a  useful 
missionary.  At  home  in  two  dialects,  one  of  which  was  the 
language  of  four-fifths  of  China,  he  was  about  to  learn  a 
third  as  an  incident  of  his  service.  Seasoned  as  a  good 
soldier  of  the  Cross  by  many  a  trial  and  hardship,  he  was 
ready  to  stand  alone  in  a  peculiarly  difficult  sphere.  War, 
with  all  its  horrors,  prolonged  distress  through  insufiicient 
supphes,  the  discipUne  of  indebtedness  to  others,  even  for  a 
home,  and  then  of  loneliness  in  his  own  quarters,  sickness, 
change,  uncertainty,  and  great  discomfort  as  to  material  sur- 
roundings— all  these  had  schooled  his  heart  to  quietness  and 
patience,  and  brought  a  deeper  dependence  upon  God,  And 
then  evangelistic  journeys,  alone  or  with  other  missionaries, 
had  greatly  widened  his  outlook.  Eleven  such  itinerations 
now  lay  behind  him  within  these  first  two  years.  How 
much  each  one  had  meant,  with  its  necessary  exercise  of 
mind  and  heart,  its  strain  upon  endurance,  dangers  by 
land  and  water,  "  perils  in  the  city,  .  .  .  perils  of  robbers, 
.  .  .  labour  and  travail,"  and  all  its  secret  springs  of  faith 
and  prayer  ! 

And  now  encouragement  had  come  —  all  the  more 
precious  for  many  a  disappointment :  some  souls  brought 
into  endless  blessing  through  his  ministry,  nearness  to  the 
people  that  made  up  for  all  the  trial  involved  in  wearing 
native  dress,  and  a  friendship  richer  and  deeper  than  any 
he  had  given  up  or  ever  hoped  to  know.  Freedom  also  as 
to  funds  was  a  new  and  welcome  experience.  Friends 
whom  the  LORD  had  raised  up  now  helped  so  liberally  that 
for  a  good  many  months  he  had  not  needed  to  draw  at  all 
upon  the  Letter  of  Credit  from  his  society.     Apart  from 

^  February  26,  1854. 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  363 

them,  his  needs  v/ere  all  supphed  in  a  way  that  greatly 
strengthened  his  faith  in  God.' 

In  one  thing  only  the  years  since  he  came  to  China 
seemed  to  have  made  no  advance  :  he  had  still  no  home, 
no  permanent  work,  no  settled  plans  ahead.  Where  or 
how  he  was  ultimately  to  labour  was  no  more  clear  than  it 
had  been  at  the  beginning.  But  the  way  of  faith  was 
clearer,  and  he  had  learned  to  leave  the  future  in  the  hands 
of  God,  One  who  knew  the  end  from  the  beginning  was 
guiding  and  would  guide.  So  a  great  rest  had  come  about 
it  all,  and  he  was  not  concerned  to  make  everything  fit  in. 
How  this  visit  to  Swatow  would  eventuate  for  him  per- 
sonally, how  it  would  affect  his  life-work  he  could  not  tell. 
He  only  knew  the  Lord  had  set  before  him  this  open  door, 
and  he  was  growingly  content  to  walk  a  step  at  a  time. 

And  feel  at  heart  that  One  above 
In  perfect  wisdom,  perfect  love. 
Is  working  for  the  best. 

"  As  tc  Swatow,"  he  wrote  just  before  leaving,  "  we  go  looking 
to  the  Lord  for  guidance  and  blessing.  ...  As  we  are  led,  we  shall 
return  sooner  or  later  or  not  at  all.  .  .  .  Having  no  plans,  we  have 
none  to  tell.  May  the  Lord  be  with  us,  bless  us  abundantly,  and  glorify 
His  own  great  name.  .  .  .  Pray  for  us  ;  pray  for  us.  You  little  know 
where  or  how  we  may  be  when  you  receive  this  note.  Oh,  pray  that 
we  may  be  kept  from  sin  and  used  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  sinners." 

Thus  in  prayer  and  faith  they  drew  near  the  great 
province  of  Kwang-tung,  and  on  March  12  anchored 
off  Double  Island  a  few  miles  from  their  destination.  It 
would  have  been  quite  possible  to  settle  here  among  other 
Europeans,  and  from  comfortable  headquarters  to  visit  the 

1  "  Faith  looks  to  Jesus."  he  wrote  in  April  of  this  year,  "  and  walks 
the  troubled  sea  in  spite  of  winds  and  waves.  I  understand  that  the 
funds  of  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  were  much  reduced  a  short 
time  ago,  on  account,  I  suppose,  of  the  [Crimean]  war.  It  does  not  affect 
me,  however,  ...  as  I  have  not  needed  to  draw  on  my  Society  for  the 
last  two  quarters,  and  have  now  in  hand  enough  for  six  months  to  come. 
Only  by  last  mail  a  valued  friend  and  devoted  servant  of  Christ  who  has 
sent  me  one  hundred  pounds  since  last  October,  wrote  urging  me  to  tell 
him  of  any  additional  way  in  which  he  could  forward  the  work  by  supplying 
the  means.  So  as  you  truly  say,  if  we  are  in  the  vAU  of  God,  difficulty  or 
trial  as  to  circumstances  cannot  hinder  us.  Nothing  can  by  any  means 
harm  us  or  frustrate  His  designs." 


364  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

mainland  for  their  missionary  operations.  But  such  a 
plan  had  no  attractions  for  either  William  Burns  or  Hudson 
Taylor.  Avoiding  all  connections  with  the  vice  and  luxury 
of  the  Settlement,  they  went  on  to  Swatow  itself,  to  seek  a 
footing  among  the  people  they  had  come  to  reach.  In 
this  their  Chinese  dress  was  of  great  assistance ;  and 
though  at  first  it  seemed  that  not  a  comer  could  be  found, 
prayer  was  again  answered  and  their  faith  strengthened  by 
one  of  those  "  chance  providences  "  so  often  prepared  for 
the  children  of  God. 

Situated  on  the  delta  of  the  Han  between  two  of  its 
principal  channels,  Swatow  has  little  room  to  extend  save 
by  banking  out  its  water-frontage,  an  operation  in  which 
hundreds  of  workmen  were  engaged.  Houses  were  running 
up  as  rapidly  as  possible,  for  the  supply  was  altogether 
unequal  to  the  demand  ;  and  meanwhile  the  missionaries 
almost  despaired  of  finding  quarters. 

After  two  days'  fruitless  search  during  which  they  were 
thankful  for  Captain  Bowers'  continued  hospitality,  they 
"  happened  "  to  meet  a  Cantonese  merchant  whom  Mr. 
Bums  addressed  in  his  mother  -  tongue.  Delighted  at 
hearing  excellent  Cantonese  from  a  foreigner,  and  a  foreigner 
wearing  Chinese  dress,  this  gentleman  interested  himself  on 
their  behalf,  and  through  a  relative  who  "  happened  "  to  be 
the  highest  official  in  the  town  succeeded  in  securing  them 
a  lodging.  It  was  not  much  of  a  place,  it  is  tme,  just  a 
single  room  over  an  incense-shop  in  a  crowded  quarter,  but 
how  glad  they  were  to  take  possession  before  Captain 
Bowers  had  to  sail  for  Singapore  ! 

That  it  did  not  meet  with  their  kind  friend's  approval 
is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at.  Great  was  his  love  and 
admiration  for  Mr.  Burns,  and  he  could  not  bear  to  leave 
him  in  such  surroundings.  Of  his  visit  to  the  incense-shop 
he  wrote  to  a  mutual  friend,  Mrs.  Barbour  of  Bonskeid  : 

Seeking  out  his  wretched  lodging  in  Swatow  amongst  the  degraded 
of  every  class,  I  remarked,  "Surely,  Mr.  Burns,  you  might  find  a  better 
place  to  live  in  !  "  He  laughingly  told  me  that  he  was  more  content 
in  the  midst  of  this  people  than  he  would  be  at  home  surrounded 
with  every  comfort.     He  said  his  expenses  amounted  to  ten  dollars 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  365 

a  month.     "  Mr.  Bums,"  I  exclaimed,  "  that  would  not  keep  me  in 
cigars  !  "     He  said  it  was  sufficient  for  him. 

But  to  the  missionaries  themselves,  ten  dollars  a  month 
and  a  single  room,  into  which  they  had  to  climb  through 
an  opening  in  the  floor,  did  not  seem  so  bad.  It  was  in  touch 
with  the  people,  that  was  the  chief  thing,  and  they  were 
very  conscious  that  the  Lord  was  with  them.  The  single 
room  they  divided  as  well  as  they  could  into  three  tiny 
apartments — two  running  east  to  west,  and  one  north  and 
south,  which  included  the  hole  in  the  floor. 

"  My  bedroom  is  on  the  south,"  Mr.  Taylor  explained  in  his  first 
home-letter.  "  Mr.  Burns  takes  the  north  side,  and  the  strip  on  the 
west  we  use  as  our  study.  The  partitions  are  made  of  sheets  and  a 
few  boards.  .  .  .  We  have  only  just  obtained  exclusive  possession,^ 
a  passage  having  been  needed  for  the  landlord's  family  until  alterations 
were  made  in  the  house.  We  are  promised  a  trap-door  next  week,  and 
then  shall  have  more  privacy. 

"  Our  beds  are  a  few  deal  boards,  and  our  table  the  lid  of  a  box  sup- 
ported on  t"o  bags  of  books.  We  may  get  a  better  some  day,  but 
nothing  of  that  sort  is  to  be  bought  ready-made  in  Swatow.  So  for 
the  present,  at  an  outlay  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  cash  [one  shilling 
and  a  penny],  we  have  completely  furnished  the  house — with  two 
bamboo  stools  and  a  bamboo  easy-chair." 

Here,  then,  amongst  the  worst  and  lowest,  the  little  seed 
was  planted  that  was  to  result  in  the  abundant  harvest 
seen  to-day.^  Years  before,  a  solitary  missionary  had 
laboured  there  in  face  of  overwhelming  odds.  Driven  from 
place  to  place  he  had  widely  itinerated  in  the  surrounding 
country,  living  a  life  of  Christlike  patience  and  love.^    But 

1  Written  on  March  29,  after  they  had  occupied  the  room  for  two  weeks. 

2  Although  in  the  first  five  years  after  Mr.  Burns  commenced  work  in 
Swatow  only  thirty-nine  converts  were  received  into  church  fellowship, 
more  than  4400  adults  have  been  baptized  since  that  time  in  connection 
with  the  English  Presbyterian  Mission  alone,  of  whom  2700  are  actual 
communicants  to-day  (191 1).  A  strong  native  ministry  has  been  developed 
which  is  now  entirely  supported  by  the  native  Church. 

^  This  devoted  servant  of  God,  the  Rev.  R.  Lechler,  was  sent  out  by 
the  Basel  Missionary  Society  in  1846,  and  with  the  Rev.  Th.  Hamburg 
was  the  first  representative  of  the  Society  in  China.  Mr.  Lechler  went 
to  Swatow  in  1848,  and  did  not  retire  from  that  difficult  field  until  obliged 
to  do  so  in  1852.  For  more  than  fifty  years  he  was  almost  continuously 
at  work  in  China,  witnessing  the  development  of  a  Church  which  now 
numbers,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  over  5700  communicants. 


366  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

from  the  time  that  Mr.  Lechler  had  been  driven  back  to 
Hong-kong,  no  one  had  taken  his  place,  and  Swatow  had 
remained  without  testimony  to  the  Gospel. 

His  knowledge  of  Cantonese  enabled  Mr.  Bums  to  make 
himself  understood  from  the  first,  and  greatly  helped  him 
in  acquiring  the  local  speech.  For  his  companion  this  was 
a  much  more  serious  matter.  They  had  not  been  long 
in  Swatow,  however,  before  they  both  felt  that  so  important 
a  centre  must  never  again  be  left  unoccupied,  and  as  the 
only  way  to  usefulness  was  to  be  able  to  talk  freely  with 
the  people,  Mr.  Taylor  set  himself  once  more  to  study. 

"  There  is  plenty  of  work  to  be  done/'  he  wrote  to  his  mother  soon 
after  their  arrival,  "  but  I  cannot  do  it.  It  is  a  great  trial  after  being 
able  to  speak  freely  to  begin  again  in  a  place  where  one  cannot  under- 
stand a  single  sentence.  But  if  only  we  are  used  here,  what  a  privilege 
is  ours  !  All  my  previous  experience  I  find  of  the  greatest  value,  for 
one  without  knowledge  of  Chinese,  dressed  as  a  foreigner,  and  un- 
accustomed to  living  as  we  do  among  the  people  would  not  be  able 
to  stay  on  at  all.  .  .  .  How  gracious  the  Lord  is  and  how  wonderful 
His  ways  !  .  .  .  Pray  for  me,  and  do  not  be  uneasy  about  me.  The 
Lord  will  undertake." 

If  his  mother  and  friends  could  have  realised  the  con- 
ditions under  which  he  was  living,  they  would  have  felt 
more  concern  at  this  time  than  probably  they  did.  For 
Swatow  was  a  dangerous  as  well  as  difficult  field.  Two  great 
evils  already  mentioned  flourished  under  the  protection  of 
foreigners,  and  made  the  very  sight  of  a  European  odious 
to  the  people. 

"  About  two  hundred  boxes  of  opium  are  imported  monthly," 
Mr.  Taylor  stated  in  the  same  letter  ;  "  each  box  contains  forty  balls 
of  about  four  pounds  in  weight.  Thus  not  less  than  thirty-two 
thousand  pounds  weight  of  opium  enter  China  every  month  at  this 
port  alone,  the  cost  of  which  is  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling. 
After  this  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  people  are 
wretchedly  poor,  ignorant,  and  vicious. 

"  A  cruel  slave  trade  also  is  carried  on  under  the  name  of  the  '  coolie 
traffic'  The  men  are  engaged  (nominally)  for  a  certain  term  of  years, 
but  few  live  to  return.  A  bounty  is  paid  them,  and  they  are  told 
that  they  are  going  to  make  their  fortunes,  or  they  are  entrapped  by 
worse  means.    Once  on  the  ship  the  agent  receives  so  much  a  head  for 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  367 

the  poor  fellows  who  soon  find  themselves  in  captivity  of  the  most 
horrible  kind.  Some  jump  overboard  in  their  efforts  to  escape,  but 
they  are  generally  retaken  and  flogged.  Some  ships  carry  a  thousand 
and  others  three  or  four  hundred,  and  very  many  die  before  reaching 
their  destination — Cuba,  Havanna  and  Callao.  ...  Of  one  ship 
with  several  hundreds  on  board,  I  heard  the  surgeon  say  that  not  more 
than  two-thirds  would  survive  the  voyage.  Poor  people  !  ONE  only 
is  able  to  help  them.     Oh,  for  His  blessing  !  " 

It  was  little  wonder  under  such  circumstances,  and  with 
many  of  the  traders  of  Double  Island  living  lives  worse 
than  those  of  the  heathen,  that  the  missionaries  endeavour- 
ing to  obtain  a  foothold  in  Swatow  should  be  regarded  with 
hatred,  suspicion,  and  scorn.  But  it  was  a  painful  experience 
none  the  less,  and  as  new  to  Mr.  Burns  as  to  Hudson  Taylor. 

"  The  people  have  no  love  for  foreigners,"  wrote  the  latter,  "  and 
we  never  go  out  without  being  insulted  and  laughed  at.^  ...  I  think 
I  never  was  in  such  a  wicked  place.  .  .  .  Pray  much  for  us,  that  we 
may  have  grace  and  patience,  and  strength  of  body  and  mind  to  pass 
through  all  jnharmed  and  even  find  it  a  blessing." 

In  towns  and  villages  at  a  little  distance  a  more  friendly 
spirit  was  manifested,  but  the  same  poverty  and  degradation 
prevailed,  and  the  people  were  so  turbulent  that  those  who 
went  amongst  them  had  to  face  constant  danger.  In  their 
visits  to  the  country  the  missionaries  were  liable  to  be 
seized  at  any  moment  and  held  to  ransom,  and  they  fre- 
quently heard  the  saying  that  the  whole  district  was  "  with- 
out Emperor,  without  rulers,  and  without  law."  One  small 
town  in  which  they  were  preaching  had  recently  captured 
a  wealthy  man  belonging  to  a  neighbouring  clan.  Refusing 
to  pay  the  exorbitant  sum  demanded  for  his  release,  he 
had  been  subjected  to  cruel  tortures,  his  ankle-bones  finally 
being  smashed  with  a  club,  after  which  his  tormentors 
succeeded  in  obtaining  all  they  desired. 

"  There  was  nothing  but  the  protection  of  God,"  wrote  Hudson 
Taylor,  "  between  us  and  the  same  sort  of  treatment.  The  towns 
were  all  walled^  many  of  them  containing  ten  or  twelve  thousand 


^  The  usual  term  "  Foreign  Devil  "  was  here  reinforced  by  more  offensive 
epithets,  "  Foreign  Dog,"  "  Foreign  Pig  "  and  worse,  hissed  out  with 
bitterest  scorn. 


368  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

people  who  might  be  and  frequently  were  at  war  with  a  neighbouring 
town.  To  be  kindly  received  in  one  place  was  often  a  source  of 
danger  in  the  next.  But  amid  such  circumstances  the  preserving 
care  of  our  God  was  the  more  manifest." 

Trusting  in  His  unfailing  presence,  the  missionaries  were 
enabled  to  go  on  stedfastly  through  all,  embracing  many 
opportunities  for  bringing  light  into  the  darkness.  Mr. 
Burns  frequently  visited  Double  Island,  holding  services 
in  English  that  were  well  attended,  and  Mr.  Taylor,  whenever 
he  could  spare  a  day  from  study,  joined  him  in  expeditions 
to  the  surrounding  country. 

One  such  journey  together  toward  the  end  of  March 
brought  them  to  a  busy  place  called  Hwa-wu,  where  they 
came  across  an  old  farmer  who  could  read  intelligently. 
Failing  any  other  teacher,  they  were  glad  to  secure  his 
services,  and  for  the  local  dialect  could  hardly  have  wished 
a  better.  Talking  and  reading  with  him  for  several  hours 
daily,  Mr.  Taylor  made  such  rapid  progress  that  by  the 
middle  of  April  he  was  able  to  undertake  a  little  work  on 
his  own  account. 

"  The  country  is  very  beautiful,"  he  wrote.  "  Fine  ranges  of  hills 
enclose  fertile  valleys,  watered  by  many  channels  through  which  the 
Han  empties  itself  into  the  sea.  I  have  been  out  to-day  (April  17) 
with  my  servant  for  a  little  air  and  exercise.  .  .  .  After  climbing 
several  hills  and  getting  a  good  idea  of  the  neighbourhood  we  went  to 
the  first  village  I  have  visited  alone.  Great  is  the  change  that  has 
taken  place  in  three  and  a  half  weeks  !  When  we  first  came  into  this 
district,  I  could  understand  nothing.  Now,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
I  am  able  to  talk  a  little  as  well  as  understand  a  good  deal.  As  we 
had  books  with  us,  I  asked  if  there  were  a  teacher  in  the  village  and 
a  school. 

"  '  No,'  said  an  elderly  man  who  had  just  left  his  work  in  the  fields 
to  join  us.  '  Last  year  we  had  one,  but  now  we  are  too  poor.  We 
have  scarcely  clothes  to  cover  us.'  And  he  pointed  to  the  only  gar- 
ment he  was  wearing,  a  very  small  and  scanty  pair  of  trousers. 

"'If  you  would  not  smoke  opium,'  I  answered,  'and  spend  so  much 
money  worshipping  dead  relatives,  and  the  Queen  of  Heaven  and 
other  idols,  you  would  be  far  better  off  than  you  are  at  present.  You 
hope  to  be  preserved,  enriched,  and  prospered,  but  evidently  you  are 
disappointed.  Your  idols  have  eyes,  but  do  they  see  ?  They  have 
ears,  but  can  they  hear  when  you  pray  ?    They  have  mouths,  but  do 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  369 

they  speak  ?  Can  they  preserve  you  from  robbers,  from  quarrels, 
sickness,  or  disaster  ?  ' 

"  '  True  !  True  ! '  some  replied.  '  They  are  certainly  not  much 
use.' 

"I  then  went  on  to  tell  them  of  the  living  God,  the  great  Father  they 
ought  to  worship,  who  had  made  heaven,  earth,  man,  and  all  things, 
and  would  forgive  their  sins,  for  Jesus'  sake,  if  they  would  turn  to  Him, 
Believing  in  this  precious  Saviour,  I  told  them,  they  would  find  peace 
in  life  or  death,  and  possess  a  satisfying  portion. 

"  Some  thirty  or  forty  people,  besides  children,  listened  under  the 
shade  of  a  magnificent  banyan  tree,  and  seemed  friendly.  But  very 
few  could  read.  So  that  had  it  not  been  for  junks  on  the  river  most 
of  my  stock  of  books  would  have  returned  with  me." 

These  visits  to  the  country  were  helpful  and  refreshing 
in  spite  of  attendant  danger,  especially  as  the  heat  of 
summer  came  on.  Even  in  May  it  was  intensely  hot,  and 
Mr.  Taylor  wrote  that  sitting  quietly  at  study  he  had  to 
keep  a  towel  by  him  to  wipe  the  perspiration  streaming 
from  fac^  and  hands.  Oh,  those  httle  rooms  under  the 
naked  tiles,  how  they  did  glow  in  the  pitiless  glare  of  the 
sun  !  They  would  have  been  unbearable  during  the  day- 
time but  that  Mr.  Taylor  rigged  up  a  sort  of  punkah  to  stir 
the  air  a  little  and  give  relief.  Mr.  Burns,  already  accli- 
matised to  a  southern  summer,  was  able  to  be  out  at  all 
hours  without  danger,  but  his  companion  suffered  seriously. 
Still,  right  on  into  June,  he  worked  with  unremitting  diligence, 
eating  hardly  anything  till  evening  came,  when,  with  the 
help  of  a  breeze  that  usually  sprang  up,  they  made  their 
evening  meal. 

But  more  distressing  than  the  heat,  harder  to  bear  than 
sleepless  nights  and  all  the  weariness  their  work  involved, 
was  the  sin  and  suffering  that  surged  around  them. 

"  If  ever  there  were  a  place  needing  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel," 
Hudson  Taylor  wrote  to  his  sister,  "  it  is  certainly  this  place.  Men 
are  sunk  so  low  in  sin  as  to  have  lost  all  sense  of  shame,  .  .  .  lower 
even  than  the  beasts  that  perish.  The  official  classes  are  as  bad  as 
the  rest,  and  instead  of  restraining  evil  are  governed  themselves  by 
opium  and  love  of  money.  And  if  it  be  possible  to  live  worse  lives 
than  the  heathen,  then  the  sailors  and  others  who  frequent  Double 
Island  carry  off  the  palm.    There  may  be  exceptions,  so  I  had  better 

2  B 


370  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

say  at  once  that  there  probably  are,  but  I  do  not  know  of  any  save 
Dr.  De  la  Porte  ^  who  is  there  just  now.  .  ,  . 

"  Sin  does  indeed  reign  here,  and,  as  always,  those  most  to  be  pitied 
and  whose  case  seems  most  hopeless  are  the  women.  However  low 
men  sink  in  heathen  lands,  women  sink  lower.  Looked  upon  as  hardly 
having  any  soul,  girls  are  sold  here  for  wives  or  slaves,  and  are  left 
entirely  without  education.  Married  women  and  families  are  not 
numerous  in  proportion  to  the  population,  but  the  number  of 
unfortunate  women  is  very  great.  I  say  unfortunate  advisedly,  for 
they  are  bought  and  brought  up  for  this  very  purpose.  They  are 
the  absolute  property  of  their  owners,  and  have  no  escape  from  that 
which  many  of  them  abhor.  Only  a  few  nights  ago  I  was  distressed 
by  heart-rending  screams  from  two  female  voices,  and,  on  inquiring, 
was  told  that  they  were  most  likely  newly  bought  women  in  a  house 
near  by,  who  were  being  tortured  into  submission.  '  And  that,'  added 
my  informant,  '  is  very  common  here.'  The  cries  went  on  for  about 
two  hours.     Poor  things  !   poor  things  ! 

"  This  is  hardly  a  fit  subject  to  write  to  you  about,  but,  unless  you 
know,  how  can  you  pity  and  pray  for  them  ?  English  women  little 
realise  all  they  owe  to  the  Gospel.  And  how  few  have  love  enough 
for  Christ  to  come  out  here  and  seek  to  save  the  perishing  !  It  does 
mean  sacrifice  j  but  low  as  they  would  have  to  stoop,  Jesus  stooped 
lower." 

Here,  then,  amid  such  surroundings,  he  quietly  endured 
week  after  v^^eek,  month  after  month,  drawing  his  strength 
from  God.  Frequently  separated  from  Mr.  Burns  for  the 
work's  sake  he  was  much  alone.  Keenly  the  people  watched 
him  coming  and  going  from  the  incense-shop,  and  inquired 
into  every  detail  of  his  life  and  doings.  It  was  an  open  life, 
lived  within  sight  of  his  neighbours  all  day  long — a  life  whose 
love  and  purity  told  on  their  sad,  dark  hearts  far  more  than 
he  had  any  idea.  Three  years  later  in  London,  at  the 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  to  which  Mr.  Taylor  belonged, 
Dr.  De  la  Porte  from  Double  Island  was  one  of  the  speakers. 

He  had  had  the  pleasure  and  honour,  he  said,  of  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  one  of  the  agents  of  the  Society,  labouring  at  the 
time  in  Swatow — a  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,  to  whose  zeal  and  devotion 
he  could  bear  the  most  cordial  testimony. 

He  had  seen  that  young  man  come  home  at  the  close  of  the  day 

*  A  Christian  man,  who  entertained  the  warmest  friendship  for  Mr. 
Taylor  and  Mr.  Bums,  and  subsequently  joined  the  latter  as  a  medical 
missionary  in  Swatow. 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  371 

footsore  and  weary,  his  face  covered  with  blisters  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  throw  himself  down  to  rest  in  a  state  of  utter  exhaustion, 
only  to  rise  again  in  a  few  hours  to  the  toil  and  hardship  of  another 
day.  It  had  been  very  evident  that  he  enjoyed  the  highest  respect 
from  the  Chinese,  and  was  doing  a  great  amount  of  good  among  them. 
His  influence  was  like  that  of  a  fragrant  flower,  diffusing  the  sweetness 
of  true  Christianity  around  him. 

Among  the  bright  spots  in  his  hfe  at  Swatow  this  summer 
were  the  red-letter  days  vi^hen  the  mail  arrived  from  home. 
Always  eagerly  welcomed  it  had  now  an  added  value,  cut 
off  as  they  were  in  large  measure  from  the  outside  world. 
Some  mails  even  there  would  come  in  without  any  tidings 
from  those  he  loved,  but  others  made  up  for  the  disappoint- 
ment by  spreading  before  him  a  feast  that  made  him  forget 
his  surroundings.  Such  for  example  was  the  April  day 
on  which  he  wrote  to  his  sister  : 

The  mail  has  just  arrived  from  Shanghai,  bringing  amongst  others 
your  letters  of  two  months,  one  from  Mr.  Broomhall,  two  from  mother, 
and  one  with  an  enclosure  from  Mr.  Berger. 

All  letters  of  special  interest. 

Those  from  his  mother  and  sister,  as  it  happened,  brought 
their  first  comments  on  his  adoption  of  the  native  dress, 
and  to  his  surprise  they  did  not  like  it.  So  conscious  had 
he  been  of  its  advantages,  that  he  had  almost  forgotten 
how  it  might  appear  to  them.  They  could  not  bear  to 
think  of  his  shaven  head,  blue  cotton  gown,  and  Chinese 
appearance. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  the  change  is  disagreeable  to  you,"  he  wrote  in 
answer,  "  but  you  will  regret  it  very  httle  when  you  learn  that  without 
it  we  could  never  have  gained  a  footing  in  this  important  place.  .  .  . 

"  A  little  thought  will,  I  am  sure,  enable  you  to  realise  that  if  the 
Chinese  costume  seems  so  barbarous  to  us,  our  English  dress  must  be 
no  less  so  to  them,  and  that  it  cannot  but  be  a  hindrance  in  going 
amongst  them  in  the  friendly  way  necessary  to  securing  their  confidence 
and  affection.  .  .  .  Without  it  we  could  not  stay  on  here  a  single  day. 

That  Miss does  not  like  it  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear,  but  that  does 

not  make  me  regret  that  I  have  adopted  it.  It  is  one  of  those 
matters  about  which  I  and  my  devoted  companion,  Mr.  Burns,  thank 
God  almost  every  day." 


372  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

But  his  disappointment  over  their  feehng  in  this  matter 
was  soon  lost  sight  of  in  the  all-important  news  contained 
in  these  letters.  Could  it  be — his  own  dearest  sister  and 
friend,  in  a  sense  going  from  him  to  another,  a  deeper  love  ? 
And  yet  the  thought  was  not  new  to  him,  and  there  was  no 
one  to  whom  he  would  more  gladly  have  given  her.  A 
letter  from  Mr.  Broomhall  made  it  pretty  clear  that  matters 
would  soon  be  settled  between  them,  and  all  the  far-away 
brother  could  do  was  to  write  his  heartfelt  congratulations. 

A  little  later,  he  learned  that  they  were  not  only  engaged, 
but  thinking  of  China,  and  the  hope  grew  strong  that  they 
might  become  his  fellow- workers.  He  had  written  to  Mr. 
Broomhall  several  times  already  on  the  subject,  and  now 
mentioned  it  again  in  a  June  letter  to  his  sister.  The 
prospect  was  a  delightful  one,  but  knowledge  of  his  own 
heart  taught  him  how  easily  they  might  be  misled  by 
natural  inclinations. 

"  I  long  for  you  to  be  working  here,"  he  wrote,  "  not  for  my  sake 
only,  but  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  poor  Chinese.  Look 
to  the  Lord  for  guidance,  and  see  your  way  very  clearly  as  to  the 
will  of  God  before  you  leave  dear  mother.  If  you  do  come,  let  it  not 
be  to  live  with  or  near  me.  If  God  grant  it  we  shall  be  very  thankful ; 
if  not  we  must  be  submissive.  What  He  is  training  me  for  I  cannot 
tell.  May  it  be  for  His  glory.  You  will  not  imagine  from  this  that 
my  love  to  you  is  in  any  way  lessened.  What  I  do  want  you  to  do 
is — to  give  up  all  to  the  Lord.  And  the  more  fully  you  do  that  the 
more  He  will  give  you  back  again,  yes,  more  by  far  than  you  ever  gave 
up  for  Him.    May  He  guide  and  bless  you  for  Jesus'  sake." 

To  a  friend  in  need  of  guidance  he  also  wrote  in  a  similar 
strain  : 

Light  will  no  doubt  be  given  you.  Do  not  forget,  however,  in 
seeking  more,  the  importance  of  walking  according  to  the  light  you 
have.  If  you  feel  called  to  the  work,  do  not  be  anxious  as  to  the  time 
and  way.  He  will  make  it  plain.  ...  I  desire  increasingly  to  leave 
all  my  affairs  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  alone  can,  and  who  assuredly 
will,  lead  us  aright  if  humbly  and  in  faith  we  seek  His  aid.  .  .  . 

I  am  sure  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  urge  on  you,  as  I  have  on  Amelia, 
the  importance  of  seeking  guidance  from  God  for  yourself  personally, 
apart  from  the  movements  of  others.  Each  one  of  us  has  an  individual 
duty  and  responsibility  toward  Him.    The  conduct  of  others  cannot 


STEDFAST,  UNMOVABLE  373 

make  duty,  for  me,  of  that  which  is  not  so  ;  nor  can  the  claims  of 
duty  be  lessened  because  of  the  action,  right  or  wrong,  of  others. 
We  may  and  should  thank  God  for  all  the  help  He  gives  us  through 
others  in  the  performance  of  duty.  But  let  us  seek  to  see  our  own 
way  clearly  in  the  light  of  His  will,  and  then  in  trial  and  perplexity 
we  shall  be  "  stedfast,  unmovable,"  not  having  trusted  to  an  arm  of 
flesh.  The  Lord  guide  and  bless  you,  and  give  you  ever  to  lean  unshaken 
on  His  faithfulness. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

ON   WHOM   THE   MANTLE   FELL 

June-July  1856.    Aet.  24. 

Six  months  of  intercourse  with  William  Bums  had  now 
gone  by,  and  little  as  either  of  them  expected  it  they  were 
nearing  the  close  of  their  helpful,  happy  fellowship.  To 
them  it  seemed  on  the  contrary  that  their  work  together 
was  only  just  beginning.  The  needs  around  them  were  so 
great  and  the  help  they  were  to  one  another  so  evident 
that  they  could  not  but  look  forward  to  doing  something 
really  adequate  together  by  the  blessing  of  God  for  the 
important  region  to  which  He  had  called  them.  But 
Swatow  was  only  one  needy  field  out  of  the  vast  whole  of 
unreached  China.  For  that  wider  work  to  be  done  the 
Lord  was  making  preparation,  as  well  as  for  widespread 
blessing  in  the  region  He  had  specially  laid  upon  their 
hearts.  William  Bums  for  Swatow  and  other  strategic 
points  in  the  great  seaboard  provinces,  and  Hudson  Taylor, 
by  and  by,  for  far-reaching  inland  China  : — such  was  the 
purpose  of  Him  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning.  So 
the  days  of  their  pilgrimage  together  drew  to  a  close,  filled 
as  all  that  went  before  had  been  with  helpful  fellowship  in 
the  Lord. 

By  this  time  it  was  the  middle  of  June,  and  more  than 
ever  trying  in  the  little  rooms  over  the  incense-shop.  It 
seemed  really  imperative  to  get  other  quarters  ;  and  as 
this  was  out  of  the  question  in  Swatow,  they  extended  the 
search  to  neighbouring  towns  and  villages. 

374 


ON  WHOM  THE  MANTLE  FELL  375 

"  It  is  much  more  difficult  to  itinerate  here  than  it  was  around 
Shanghai,"  Hudson  Taylor  wrote  to  his  father  on  June  16. 
"  There  the  boat  one  travelled  in  supplied  a  home.  Here  it  is  not 
so,  excepting  in  places  so  near  at  hand  that  we  should  naturally  return 
at  night.  You  must  go  in  most  cases  on  foot,  not  knowing  where  or 
how  you  will  pass  the  night,  and  ready  to  take  such  accommodation 
as  may  offer.  It  is,  of  course,  an  entirely  new  line  of  things  to  me  .  .  . 
and  requires  far  more  faith  and  self-denial  than  anything  I  have 
hitherto  known.  But  we  have  the  promise  that  His  grace  shall  be 
sufficient  for  us,  and  we  know  that  in  our  weakness  He  will  perfect 
His  strength." 

All  this  was  of  the  greatest  importance  for  one  who  was 
to  be  the  leader  of  an  evangelistic,  pioneering  mission.  It 
was  needful  that  he  should  have  a  practical,  intimate 
knowledge  of  many  phases  of  life  and  work  ;  and  to  this  end 
his  Swatow  experiences  were  "  well  and  wisely  chosen," 
difficult  as  they  seemed  at  the  time. 

On  one  of  these  overland  journeys,  for  example,  he  was 
brought  to  the  point  of  having  nowhere  at  all  to  shelter  for 
the  night,  a  serious  position  in  China.  It  was  in  the  httle 
town  of  To-p'u,  whither  he  had  gone  on  May  20  to  take 
possession  of  a  cottage  they  had  been  enabled  to  rent. 
One  room  below  and  one  above,  in  the  more  open  surround- 
ings of  this  country  place,  promised  welcome  relief  from 
their  overcrowded  city  quarters.  But  all  unwittingly  they 
were  reckoning  without  their  host.  For  the  landlord  who 
had  been  willing  to  have  them  the  day  before  met  Mr. 
Taylor  on  his  arrival  saying  : 

"  Go  back,  go  back  at  once  1  My  neighbours  will  not 
allow  me  to  let  you  have  the  house." 

A  moment's  prayer,  however,  satisfied  Mr.  Taylor  that 
he  must  not  go  back,  and  dismissing  his  boat  accordingly 
he  went  about  his  Master's  business.  His  servant,  who 
knew  the  character  of  the  Tie-chiu  ^  people,  kept  asking 
anxiously  : 

"  What  will  you  do  ?  Where  shall  we  go  when  darkness 
comes  on  ?     We  cannot  stay  out  all  night."  '^ 

1  Dialect  for  Ch'ao-chow.  the  name  of  the  Prefecture  of  which  Swatow 
is  the  commercial  centre.  i     •  i 

2  On  account  of  danger  from  evil  men,  not  to  mention  the  malanal 

climate. 


376  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  Never  fear,"  was  the  quiet  answer  ;  "the  Lord  knows 
and  He  will  provide." 

So  in  temple  and  tea-shop  and  along  the  busy  streets, 
the  young  missionary  gave  books  to  all  who  could  read 
them  and  delivered  his  message.  Rarely  had  his  heart 
been  so  filled  with  the  joy  of  the  Lord  in  this  work,  and 
the  people  noticed  it. 

"  Where  are  you  going  to  sleep,"  they  asked,  as  the 
inwardness  of  the  situation  became  generally  known. 

"  That  I  cannot  tell  you,"  he  frankly  replied.  "  But  my 
Heavenly  Father  knows.  He  is  every\N^here  present,  and 
never  forgets  the  needs  of  His  people.  Nor  does  He  ever 
leave  them  unsupplied." 

"  Are  you  not  anxious  lest  you  should  get  into  trouble  ?  " 
"  No,  I  am  not  anxious,"  he  could  truly  say  with  a  smile. 
"  My  heart  is  in  perfect  peace,  because  the  Lord  will  provide." 
"  And  so  it  proved,"  his  own  letter  continued.  "  I  went  on  dis- 
tributing books  and  talking  with  the  people  until  dark,  and  then  was 
invited  to  sleep  over  a  barber's  shop  the  owner  of  which  was  a  Ha-ka 
man.  Some  congee  (rice  and  water  gruel)  was  prepared,  and  of  this 
we  made  our  supper.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  evening  a  great  many  people  came  to  see  me^  one  man 
bringing  a  present  of  two  very  pretty,  fragrant  flowers.  I  pointed  out 
to  my  visitors  that  the  beauty  and  sweetness  of  these  flowers  was 
given  them  by  God  ;  that  birds  and  insects  are  all  cared  for  by  Him  ; 
that  the  many  blessings  enjoyed  even  by  those  who  knew  Him  not, 
and  sin  against  Him  by  worshipping  idols,  the  work  of  their  own  hands, 
are  still  given  and  continued  by  His  grace  ;  and  how  much  more  may 
the  children  of  this  Heavenly  Father  look  to  Him  with  confidence, 
knowing  He  will  supply  their  every  need  in  life,  in  death,  and  in  the 
world  to  come  ?  I  was  much  blessed  in  soul  and  greatly  helped  in 
testifying  to  the  love  and  care  of  God. 

"  '  It  is  curious,'  one  man  remarked,  '  how  he  speaks  of  God  in  con- 
nection with  all  things.' 

"  Poor  people  !  Truly  of  them  it  may  be  said,  '  God  is  not  in  all 
their  thoughts.'  " 

But  the  little  town  of  To-p'u  had  the  opportunity  at 
this  time  of  really  understanding  the  message  that  had 
awakened  so  much  interest.  For  Mr.  Bums  came  over 
the  next  day  and  stayed  almost  a  fortnight,  though  his 
companion  had  to  return  to  Swatow. 


ON  WHOM  THE  MANTLE  FELL  377 

Later  in  the  month  (June)  two  Chinese  Christians  joined 
them,  sent  by  a  missionary  friend  at  Hong-kong.  They  were 
natives  of  the  Tie-chiu  district,  and  after  a  brief  visit  to 
their  homes  up-country  were  to  remain  with  and  assist  Mr. 
Burns  who  was  greatly  needing  such  helpers.  And  the  first 
work  with  which  he  entrusted  them  was  the  search  for  a 
room  that  could  be  used  for  a  "  street-chapel."  As  natives 
of  the  place  he  knew  they  were  more  likely  to  be  successful 
than  foreigners  ;  but  do  what  they  would,  no  premises  of 
any  kind  could  be  obtained. 

Realising  afresh  through  this  unsuccessful  search  the 
value  of  the  footing  they  had  obtained,  Mr.  Burns  and  his 
companion  were  more  than  ever  thankful  for  their  little 
home  over  the  incense -shop,  in  spite  of  discomforts  that 
only  seemed  to  multiply  with  the  heat  of  summer.  Some 
idea  of  these  minor  trials  may  be  obtained  from  a  lively 
passage  in  a  letter  from  Hudson  Taylor  to  his  younger 
sister,  written  about  this  time, 

SwATow,  June  g,  1856. 

My  dear  Louisa — I  must  try  to  answer  your  note  by  this  mail, 
or  run  the  risk  of  leaving  it  undone.  And  this  I  hope  to  accomplish, 
if  the  mosquitoes,  flies,  cockroaches  (two  inches  long  and  flying  about 
in  all  directions),  centipedes,  lizards,  crickets,  fleas  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  tormentors  will  allow. 

While  writing  these  few  lines,  I  have  made  one  successful  and  two 
unsuccessful  attacks  upon  as  many  fleas,  so  you  may  imagine  how 
plentiful  they  are  !  Sometimes  I  stop  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence, 
catch  three  or  four  of  these  unwelcome  visitors,  kill  a  few  cockroaches 
and  then  go  on  again.  The  other  night  I  felt  something  very  strange 
inside  my  Chinese  garments,  and  on  looking  to  see  what  it  was,  found 
a  centipede  two  or  three  inches  long  !  It  bit  me  severely  before  I 
could  eject  it,  and  the  place  swelled  up  and  was  very  painful ;  but  I 
applied  carbonate  of  ammonia  with  immediate  relief.  The  people 
of  the  house  made  a  great  stir  about  it  (these  bites  are  very  venomous) 
and  soon  brought  in  a  hen  !  for  what  purpose  I  do  not  know,  ,  ,  . 
But  I  sent  the  poor  creature  away,  explaining  the  virtues  of  my  white 
powder,  at  which  they  looked  respectfully  enough.  It  was  well  that 
I  had  some.  Father's  medicine-chest  has  been  about  the  most  valu- 
able thing  I  brought  to  China.  .  .  , 

The  rest  of  the  letter  is  in  a  more  serious  strain,  for  the 


378  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

spiritual  welfare  of  this  dear  sister  was  much  upon  his 
heart.  She  was  just  leaving  school  to  take  up  the  more 
leisurely  life  of  home,  and  as  he  thought  of  the  opportunities 
and  special  dangers  this  would  present,  he  longed  to  safe- 
guard her  as  well  as  at  that  distance  he  was  able. 

"  If  you  want  blessing,"  he  had  written  in  an  earlier  letter,  "  '  seek 
.  .  .  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,'  and  you  will 
be  on  the  high  road  to  all  other  good.  Some  people  forget  this  and 
seek  happiness  in  the  world,  but  it  eludes  their  grasp.  .  .  .  They  think, 
plan,  contrive,  and  try  this  means  and  that,  but  get  no  nearer  the 
mark.  While  there  are  others  who,  seeking  nothing  for  themselves, 
have  joy  and  peace  poured  into  their  hearts.  For  they  put  first  '  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,'  and  '  all  these  things  '  are 
'  added  to  them.'  This  I  have  proved  by  my  own  experience,  and 
I  can  assure  you  that  so  it  is. 

"  Pray  earnestly,  perseveringly,  till  your  prayers  are  answered, 
to  be  truly  made  a  child  of  God,  Then  remember  you  are  His  .  .  . 
but  still  a  child.  Your  Father  knows  best  where  you  should  be  and 
how.  So  ask  to  do  His  will  as  the  true,  the  only  way  to  happiness 
and  content.  Remember  too,  when  saved  you  are  His  servant.  All 
you  possess  is  His.  Use  it  as  such.  ...  If  as  His  servant  you  are 
true  to  Christ,  He  as  your  Master  will  provide  for  you  and  that  liberally. 
It  is  the  Principal  of  any  concern  who  has  the  burden  of  responsibility. 
So  avoid  seeking  to  be  head.  ...  Be  the  servant  and  child  in  all  things. 
.  .  .  Look  for  guidance,  and  commit  your  way  unto  the  Lord.  Thus 
you  will  prosper  in  temporal  as  in  spiritual  things,  and  avoid  those 
grinding  cares  which  wear  one  down  more  than  actual  labour,  and 
sometimes  make  life  itself  a  burden.  And  remember  to  pray  for  your 
absent  brother,  who  finds  it  much  easier  to  tell  you  what  to  do  than 
to  act  it  out  himself.  But  he  does  try  to  do  so,  and  can  tell  you  that 
he  has  never  tried  altogether  in  vain,  for  if  he  has  not  come  up  to  the 
mark  he  is  always  blessed  in  his  own  soul  for  trying." 

Another  paragraph  from  the  same  letter  is  well  worth 
quoting. 

There  is  one  thing  I  would  specially  warn  you  against  .  .  .  one  of 
the  greatest  curses  I  believe  of  the  present  day — the  practice  of  novel- 
reading.  If  you  value  your  mind  and  soul,  avoid  it  as  you  would  a 
dangerous  serpent.  I  cannot  tell  you  what  I  would  give  to  be  able 
to  forget  certain  novels  I  have  read  and  to  efface  their  influence  from 
my  memory.  And  I  firmly  beheve,  though  some  would  deny  it,  .  .  . 
that  no  Christian  ever  did  or  ever  will  read  them  without  injury,  .  .  . 
very  serious  injury  too,  if  the  habit  is  indulged  in.     It  is  like  opium- 


ON  WHOM  THE  MANTLE  FELL  379 

smoking,  and  begets  a  craving  for  more  that  must  be  supplied.  Better 
books  are  neglected,  and  no  one  can  estimate  the  mischief  that  results. 
Few,  I  believe,  could  honestly  ask  God's  blessing  upon  the  reading 
of  a  novel,  and  few  would  venture  to  assert  that  they  read  them  to 
the  glory  of  God.  I  dread  them  for  you  especially  as  a  temptation 
to  which  you  are  constitutionally  disposed  ...  for  you  and  I  resemble 
one  another  very  much  as  to  temperament.  .  .  .  The  only  safety 
lies  in  avoiding  them  as  one  of  Satan's  most  subtle  snares. 

I  often  fear  that  while  I  may  be  remembered  by  you  as  your  brother 
the  missionary  in  China,  you  will  not  feel  towards  me  as  to  one  who 
has  a  deep,  a  constant,  and  increasing  interest  in  your  welfare.  .  .  . 
May  God  bless  you,  my  dearly-beloved  and  often  prayed-for  sister, 
and  make  you  all  that  He  Himself  would  have  you  be.  Good-night, 
my  oil  is  done.     Once  more,  God  bless  you. 

This  was  Ihe  summer  of  the  disastrous  floods,  when  in  the 
low-lying  parts  of  the  Tie-chiu  district  several  cities  were 
inundated  and  more  than  two  hundred  towns  and  villages. 
The  rice  crop,  just  ready  for  reaping,  was  swept  away  in 
many  places  by  the  tremendous  rush  of  water,  that  even 
unearthed  coffins  and  carried  them  out  to  sea.  Not  a  few 
lives  were  lost,  and  the  distress  among  all  classes  was  very 
great.  Mr.  Burns  returned  in  the  middle  of  June  from 
the  neighbouring  town  of  Am-po,  where  he  had  been  living 
for  ten  days.  He  only  came  just  in  time,  for  the  house  he 
had  been  enabled  to  rent  was  flooded  breast-high  the 
following  day. 

He  had  had  an  encouraging  stay  in  this  busy,  important 
place,  a  larger  town  than  Swatow  though  not  so  crowded. 
Not  only  was  there  a  constant  stream  of  visitors  coming 
for  books  and  conversation,  but  several  interested  neigh- 
bours were  regularly  attending  morning  and  evening  worship. 
The  change  back  to  Swatow  was  not  a  Httle  trying,  especially 
as  the  continued  downpour  prevented  outside  work.  But 
it  gave  a  welcome  opportunity  for  prayer  and  conference 
over  many  problems  connected  with  their  position. 

By  the  close  of  the  week  Mr.  Taylor  was  far  from  well. 
The  close  confinement  to  their  narrow  quarters  was  telling 
upon  him,  especially  when — with  their  servants  and  two 
native  helpers — they  were  "  so  thick  on  the  ground  "  as 
he  expressed  it. 


38o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

"  The  dark,  rainy  weather  has  a  depressing  effect  on  one's  spirits," 
he  wrote.  "  I  do  not  feel  very  well,  but  trust  that  in  a  few  days  a 
change  of  weather  will  put  things  right  and  let  me  go  on  with  my 
work  again." 

Brighter  days  came  and  Mr,  Bums  was  able  to 
return  to  Am-po  with  his  Chinese  helpers,  but  not  until 
it  had  become  evident  that  he  must  bid  farewell  to  his 
English  companion  for  a  time.  The  greatest  heat  of 
summer  was  still  before  them,  and  Mr.  Taylor  was  in  no 
condition  to  meet  it  under  existing  circumstances.  Pro- 
vidential indications  also  were  not  lacking  that  for  the  good 
of  the  work  he  ought  to  pay  a  visit  to  Shanghai. 

Disappointed  as  they  were  about  premises  for  a  chapel, 
their  thoughts  had  naturally  turned  to  other  methods  of 
evangeUsation.  The  people  of  Swatow  were  far  too  sus- 
picious of  foreigners  to  let  them  have  a  room  for  nothing 
but  preaching.  How  could  any  one  be  willing  to  pay  the 
rent  of  a  shop  merely  to  have  a  place  for  talking  in  about 
religious  doctrines  ?  Clearly  there  must  be  something 
behind  such  a  proceeding.  But  premises  for  medical  work 
would  be  quite  another  matter.  The  foreign  doctor  was 
always  persona  grata,  and  if  he  must  tell  more  or  less  about 
his  religion — well,  his  medicines  were  so  good  that  the 
preaching  could  be  tolerated. 

This  being  so  even  in  Swatow,  Mr.  Burns  and  Mr.  Taylor 
had  almost  decided  to  begin  hospital  work,  or  at  any  rate 
to  open  a  dispensary.  They  were  still  praying  about  it, 
wondering  whether  the  latter  should  take  the  long  journey 
to  Shanghai  to  fetch  his  instruments  and  medicines,  when 
the  chief  Mandarin  of  the  place  was  taken  ill  and  the  native 
doctors  were  unable  to  relieve  him.  Hearing  from  a  friend 
that  one  of  the  foreigners  in  native  dress  was  a  skilful 
physician,  he  sent  for  Hudson  Taylor  and  put  the  case 
into  his  hands.  The  treatment  proved  beneficial,  and  no 
sooner  was  he  well  himself  than  he  strongly  advised  his 
benefactor  to  commence  medical  work  in  Swatow  for  the 
assistance  of  other  sufferers.  This  seemed  very  like  the 
guidance  they  were  seeking,  especially  when  the  Mandarin, 
in  the  grateful  spirit  so  characteristic  of  his  people,  under- 


THE  REV.  WILLIAM  C.  BURNS,  M.A.,  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PRESBYTERIAN  MISSION. 

"  In  stature  he  was  about  middle  height,  of  strong,  musculai'  and  well-knit  frame,  and  with  a 
ruddy,  pleasant  countenance,  which  is  but  faintly  recalled  by  the  worn  and  aged  features  of  his 
Chinese  picture,  but  which  doubtless  shall  reappear  in  glorified  form  when  He  comes  again  who 
maketh  all  things  new." — Picture  und  quotation  from  the  "Memoir"  of  Mr.  Burns,  hy  his  brother. 

To  face  page  381. 


ON  WHOM  THE  MANTLE  FELL  381 

took  to  help  them  about  premises.  Backed  by  his  approval 
they  were  soon  enabled  to  rent  the  entire  house  in  which 
they  had  hitherto  occupied  a  single  room,  which  gave  them 
the  advantage  of  beginning  in  a  neighbourhood  in  which 
they  were  already  known  and  respected. 

As  though  the  shadow  of  a  longer  parting  lay  upon  his 
heart,  Hudson  Taylor  was  very  reluctant,  even  then,  to 
leave  his  loved  and  honoured  friend.  But  when  just  at  this 
juncture  a  free  passage  was  offered  him  all  the  way  to 
Shanghai  by  an  English  captain,  the  matter  seemed  taken 
out  of  his  hands.  Mr.  Burns  would  not  be  left  alone  or 
without  fellow-workers.  One  of  the  native  Christians 
would  assist  him  in  Swatow,  and  one  at  Am-po  and  in  the 
country  districts.  It  really  seemed,  at  last,  as  though  the 
way  were  opening  before  them,  and  all  they  needed  was 
the  medical  outfit  waiting  in  Shanghai  to  enable  them  to 
enter  upon  fruitful  labours. 

And  so  early  in  July  the  parting  came  ;  and  full  of 
thankfulness  for  the  past  and  hope  for  greater  blessing  in 
the  days  to  come  they  committed  one  another  to  the  care 
and  keeping  that  had  never  failed  them  hitherto. 

"  Those  happy  months  were  an  unspeakable  joy  and  comfort  to 
me,"  wrote  Hudson  Taylor  long  after,  looking  back  upon  the  companion- 
ship thus  ended  with  WiUiam  Burns.  "  His  love  for  the  Word  was 
delightful,  and  his  holy,  reverential  life  and  constant  communings 
with  God  made  fellowship  with  him  satisfying  to  the  deep  cravings 
of  my  heart.  His  accounts  of  revival  work  and  of  persecutions  in 
Canada,  Dubhn,  and  Southern  China  were  most  instructive  as  well  as 
interesting  ;  for  with  true  spiritual  insight  he  often  pointed  out  God's 
purposes  in  trial  in  a  way  that  made  all  life  assume  quite  a  new  aspect 
and  value.  His  views  especially  about  evangelism  as  the  great  work  of 
the  Church,  and  the  order  of  lay-evangelists  as  a  lost  order  that  Scrip- 
ture required  to  be  restored,  were  seed-thoughts  which  were  to  prove 
fruitful  in  the  subsequent  organisation  of  the  China  Inland  Mission." 

For,  in  the  providence  of  God,  they  never  met  again. 
All  unexpectedly  Hudson  Taylor  found  his  path  diverging 
from  that  of  his  friend.  Dark  clouds  were  gathering  over 
Southern  China,  soon  to  lead  to  war.  On  a  boat  near 
Swatow  Mr.  Burns  was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  under  escort, 
by  river  and  canal,  a  journey  of  thirty-one  days  to  Canton 


382  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  the  nearest  British  authorities.  Returning  to  Swatow 
some  months  later  he  was  enabled  to  take  advantage  of 
the  growing  feeling  in  his  favour  to  establish  a  permanent 
work.  Known  as  "  The  Man  of  the  Book,"  he  was  allowed 
to  go  in  and  out  freely,  the  trusted  friend  of  the  people, 
when  all  other  Europeans  were  confined  to  their  houses 
and  in  considerable  danger  on  account  of  the  iniquities  of 
the  coolie  traffic  ;  and  the  Swatow  Mission  of  the  English 
Presbyterian  Church  flourishes  to-day  as  an  outcome  of 
those  early  labours. 

Passing  on  to  other  fields  when  initial  difficulties  were 
conquered,  Mr.  Burns  was  led  to  Peking  at  length,  and 
there  spent  four  years  in  literary  and  evangelistic  work. 
And  then,  true  to  the  commanding  vision  of  his  life,  the 
veteran  missionary  turned  his  face  once  more  to  the  "  regions 
beyond."  North  of  the  Great  Wall  and  stretching  far 
away — an  almost  unknown  world — lay  the  fair  and  fruitful 
plains  of  Manchuria.  A  few  foreigners  were  living  at  the 
Treaty  Port,  but  as  yet  no  minister  or  missionary  was 
among  their  number.^  Alone,  with  a  single  native  helper, 
Mr.  Bums  set  out  for  Newchwang,  his  hfe  and  teachings  so 
impressing  the  captain  of  the  junk  on  which  they  travelled 
that  he  would  take  no  fare  from  the  man  whose  very  presence 
seemed  a  blessing. 

Then  came  the  closing  days,  setting  the  seal  of  God's 
own  benediction  upon  this  hfe  of  singular  devotion.  Four 
months  of  earnest,  pioneering  work — preaching  in  English 
on  Sundays  to  the  handful  of  fellow-countr3anen  in  the 
Settlement,  and  in  Chinese  all  through  the  week  in  the 
native  quarter  in  which  he  lived — and  after  that  an  illness, 
the  result  as  it  seemed  of  chill,  brought  the  quiet,  unex- 
pected end.^ 

1  One  missionary  journey  had  been  made  in  Manchuria  some  time 
previously,  that  of  Dr.  Alexander  WiUiamson,  who  as  Agent  of  the  Scottish 
Bible  Society  traversed  this  important  region  between  the  years  1866  and 
1868,  even  reaching  a  point — San-sin,  on  the  Sungari  river  —  which  the 
Church  has  not  yet  overtaken.     See  A  Century  of  Missions  in  China,  p.  206. 

2  The  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Burns  passed  away  on  April  4,  1868,  just  two  years 
after  the  formation  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  which  he  had  watched 
with  the  warmest  interest. 

To  the  far-away  homeland  he  sent  as  his  last  message  an  appeal  to  take 
up  the  work  he  was  thus  laying  down  ;  an  appeal  nobly  responded  to  by 


ON  WHOM  THE  MANTLE  FELL  383 

Alone  among  the  Chinese  to  the  last,  planting  with  his 
dying  hand  the  standard  of  the  Cross  far  afield  amid  the 
darkness,  gathering  round  it  those  whose  hearts  the  Lord 
had  opened — a  little  company,  loved,  prayed  for,  taught, 
and  comforted  almost  to  his  latest  breath,  who  watching 
beside  him  as  he  passed  through  the  valley  learned  not 
only  how  a  Christian  should  live,  but  also  how  he  can  die — 
what  could  be  more  after  the  pattern  of  his  whole  life,  more 
in  keeping  with  his  heart's  desire  ? 

As  gazed  the  prophet  on  the  ascending  car, 
Swept  by  iti,  riery  steeds  away,  afar. 
So  with  the  burning  tear  and  flashing  eye, 
I  trace  thy  glorious  pathway  to  the  sky. 
Lone  hke  the  Tishbite,  as  the  Baptist  bold. 
Cast  in  a  rare  and  apostolic  mould  ; 
Earnest,  unselfish,  consecrated,  true. 
With  nothing  but  the  highest  ends  in  view  ; 
Choosing  to  toil  in  distant  fields,  unsown. 
Contented  to  be  poor  and  little  known, 
Faithful  to  death  :  Oh,  man  of  God,  well  done  1 
Thy  fight  is  ended  and  thy  crown  is  won. 

God  shall  have  all  the  glory.     Only  grace 
Made  thee  to  differ.     Let  us  man  abase  ! 
Deep,  with  emphatic  tone,  thy  dying  word. 
Thy  last  was  this  :  '■  Thine  is  the  kingdom.  Lord, 
The  power  and  glory  !  "     Thus  the  final  flame 
Of  the  burnt  offering  to  Jehovah's  Name 
Ascended  from  the  altar.     Life  thus  given 
To  God,  must  have  its  secret  springs  in  heaven. 

Oh,  William  Burns,  we  will  not  call  thee  dead  1 

Though  lies  thy  body  in  its  narrow  bed 

In  far-off  China.     Though  Manchuria  keeps 

Thy  dust,  which  in  the  Lord  securely  sleeps. 

Thy  spirit  lives  with  Jesus  ;  and  where  He 

Thy  Master  dwells,  'tis  meet  that  thou  shouldst  be. 

There  is  no  death  in  His  divine  embrace  ; 

There  is  no  life  but  where  they  see  His  face. 

the  arrival  of  the  first  representative  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Mission  in 
the  following  year,  and  of  the  sister  Church  in  Scotland  three  years 
later.  The  united  Irish  and  Scotch  Presbyterian  Missions  in  Manchuria 
(one  Chinese  Church)  now  number  no  fewer  than  16,075  actual  com- 
municants, with  a  missionary  staff  of  sixty-nine  Europeans.  Thus 
blessedly  has  the  confidence  of  William  Burns  been  justified  :  "  God," 
he  said,  "  will  carry  on  the  good  work.     Ah,  no,  I  have  no  fears  for  that  !  " 


384  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

And  now,  Lord,  let  Thy  servant's  mantle  fall 

Upon  another.     Since  Thy  solemn  call 

To  preach  the  Truth  in  China  has  been  heard. 

Grant  that  a  double  portion  be  conferred 

Of  the  same  spirit  on  the  gentler  head 

Of  some  Elisha — who  may  raise  the  dead 

And  fill  the  widow's  cruse,  and  heal  the  spring, 

And  make  the  desolate  of  heart  to  sing  ; 

And  stand,  though  feeble,  fearless,  since  he  knows 

Thy  hosts  angelic  guard  him  from  his  foes  ; 

Whose  life  an  image  fairer  still  may  be 

Of  Christ  of  Nazareth  and  Galilee, 

Of  Thine,  oh,  spotless  Lamb  of  Calvary  ! 

China,  I  breathe  for  thee  a  brother's  prayer. 
Unnumbered  are  thy  millions.     Father,  hear 
The  groans  we  cannot.     Oh,  Thine  arm  make  bare, 
And  reap  the  harvest  of  salvation  there. 
The  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  like  a  sea 
Immense,  oh.  God,  be  gathered  unto  Thee  1 
Then  Israel  save,  and  with  His  saintly  train. 
Send  us  Immanuel  over  all  to  reign  ! 

H.  Grattan  Guinness   D.D. 


PART  VI 

NiNG-PO   AND  SETTLED   WORK 

1 8  56- 1 860.     Aet.   24-28. 

Chap.  31. — My  Thoughts  are  not  Your  Thoughts. 
^2. — Who  Shutteth  and  no  Man  Openeth. 
33. — By  a  Way  that  They  Knew  Not. 
34, — The  God  that  is  Enough. 
35. — Ebenezer  and  Jehovah  Jireh. 
36. — Joy  Cometh  in  the  Morning. 
37. — Perfect  in  One. 
38. — Our  Joy  and  Crown  of  Rejoicing^ 
39. — Fishers  of  Men. 
40. — What  hath  God  Wrought. 
41. — A  Wealthy  Place. 
42.— Above  all  that  Ye  Ask  or  Think. 


2C 


We  thank  Thee,  Lord,  for  pilgrim  daj^s 
When  desert  springs  were  dry. 

And  first  we  knew  what  depth  of  need 
Thy  love  could  satisfy. 

Days  when  beneath  the  desert  sun, 

Along  the  toilsome  road. 
O'er  roughest  ways  we  walked  with  One, 

That  One  the  Son  of  God. 

We  thank  Thee  for  that  rest  in  Him 

The  weary  only  know — 
The  perfect,  wondrous  sympathy 

We  needs  must  learn  below  : 

The  sweet  companionship  of  On3 

Who  once  the  desert  trod  ; 
The  glorious  fellowship  with  One 

Upon  the  throne  of  God  ; 

We  know  Him  as  we  could  not  know 
Through  Heaven's  golden  years  ; 

We  there  shall  see  His  glorious  Face, 
But  Mary  saw  His  tears. 

The  touch  that  heals  the  broken  heart 

Is  never  felt  above  ; 
His  Angels  know  His  blessedness, 

His  wayworn  saints  His  love. 

And  now  in  perfect  peace  we  go 

Along  the  way  He  trod. 
Still  learning  from  all  need  below 

Depths  of  the  heart  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS 

July-August  1856.     Aet.  24. 

A  BRIEF  absence  was  all  that  Hudson  Taylor  anticipated 
when  he  parted  from  Mr.  Burns  in  Swatow.  He  was  badly 
needing  change  while  the  hot  season  lasted,  and  this  journey 
to  fetch  his  medicines  fitted  in  very  well  with  the  plans  they 
had  in  view.  What  was  his  surprise  and  distress,  therefore, 
to  learn  upon  reaching  Shanghai  that  the  premises  of  the 
London  Mission  had  been  visited  by  fire  and  that  his  medical 
outfit  left  there  for  safety  was  entirely  destroyed. 

What  could  it  mean  ?  Why  had  it  been  permitted  ? 
Never  had  he  needed  these  belongings  more.  Everything 
in  Swatow  seemed  to  depend  upon  the  medical  work  they 
were  now  in  a  position  to  undertake — and  Mr.  Burns  was 
alone  waiting  for  him. 

But  what  was  the  use  of  returning  without  medicines  ? 
And  where  was  a  new  supply  to  come  from,  or  the  means  to 
obtain  them  ?  Purchase  in  Shanghai  he  could  not,  on 
account  of  the  extravagantly  high  prices  of  imported 
articles,  and  six  or  eight  months  might  be  required  before 
they  would  reach  him  from  home.  It  was  a  difficult 
position,  and  the  young  missionary,  as  he  tells  us,  was 
more  disposed  to  say  with  Jacob,  "  All  these  things  are 
against  me,"  than  to  recognise  with  cheerful  faith  that 
"  All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God." 

"  I  had  not  then  learned/'  he  records,  "  to  think  of  God  as  the  One 

387 


388  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Great  Circumstance  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being, 
and  of  all  lesser  circumstances  as  necessarily  the  kindest,  wisest,  best, 
because  either  ordered  or  permitted  by  Him.  Hence  my  disappoint- 
ment and  trial  were  very  great." 

The  only  thing  was  to  write  and  tell  Mr.  Burns  what 
had  happened,  and  to  put  off  his  return  until  he  could  go 
to  Ning-po  and  see  what  Dr.  Parker  could  do  to  help  them. 
If  he  could  spare  a  small  supply  of  medicines  to  go  on  with, 
they  might  still  be  able  to  begin  work  as  soon  as  the  great 
heat  was  over.  So  in  the  hope  of  retrieving  his  losses, 
Hudson  Taylor  set  out  for  the  neighbouring  city. 

And  then  a  whole  set  of  new  difficulties  began.  Three 
or  four  days  under  ordinary  circumstances  would  have  taken 
him  to  Dr.  Parker,  but  on  this  occasion  he  found  himself 
three  weeks  after  he  first  started  no  nearer  his  destination 
than  at  the  beginning.  True  he  had  made  the  trip  as 
much  of  an  evangelistic  journey  as  possible,  preaching 
and  distributing  literature  along  the  first  part  of  the  way. 
But  this  was  not  the  reason  of  his  ending  up  where  he  began, 
penniless  and  destitute,  without  having  reached  Ning-po 
at  all  or  communicated  with  Dr.  Parker. 

"  It  is  interesting  to  notice,"  he  wrote  long  after,  "  the  various 
events  which  united  in  the  providence  of  God  in  preventing  my  return 
to  Swatow  and  ultimately  led  to  my  settling  in  Ning-po  and  making 
that  the  centre  for  the  development  of  future  labours." 

But  during  this  trying  summer  and  the  many  unsettled 
months  that  followed,  the  young  missionary  was  sorely 
perplexed  to  understand  the  way  divine  providence  was 
taking  in  the  ordering  of  his  affairs.  Life  turns  at  times  on 
a  small  pivot,  and  in  looking  back  one  is  startled  to  reahse 
the  importance  of  what  seemed  a  very  little  thing. 

How  could  Hudson  Taylor  have  imagined,  for  example, 
that  the  robbery  that  left  him  in  such  distress  upon  this 
journey  was  to  result  in  the  deliverance  of  the  entire  Mission 
he  was  yet  to  found,  during  a  period  of  financial  danger  ? 
How  could  he  suppose  that  the  upset  of  all  his  plans  and 
the  severance  of  a  partnership  in  service  more  precious 
than  any  he  had  ever  known  was  to  prove  the  crowning 


MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS  389 

blessing  of  his  life  on  the  human  side,  bringing  him  into 
association  and  at  last  union  with  the  one  of  all  others 
most  suited  both  to  him  and  his  work  ? 

But  so  it  is  God  leads.  His  hand  is  on  the  helm.  We 
are  being  guided,  even  when  we  feel  it  least.  The  closed 
door  is  as  much  His  Providence  as  the  open,  and  equally 
for  our  good  and  the  accomplishment  of  His  own  great  ends. 
And  one  learns  at  last  that  it  is  not  what  we  set  ourselves 
to  do  that  really  tells  in  blessing  so  much  as  what  He  is 
doing  through  us,  when  we  least  expect  it,  if  only  we  are  in 
abiding  fellowship  with  Him. 

"  There  was  no  water  beyond  Shih-mun-wan,"  he  wrote  in  relating 
the  latter  part  of  this  journey/  "  so  I  paid  off  my  boat,  hired  coolies 
to  carry  my  things  as  far  as  Ch'ang-an,  and  before  sunrise  we  were 
on  the  way.  I  walked  on  ahead  leaving  my  servant  to  follow  with 
the  men,  who  made  frequent  stoppages  to  rest,  and  on  reaching  the 
city  of  Shih-men  I  waited  for  them  in  a  tea-shop  outside  the  North 
Gate.  The  coolies  came  on  very  slowly  and  seemed  weary  when  they 
arrived.  I  soon  found  that  they  were  opium-smokers,  so  that  although 
they  had  only  carried  between  them  a  load  that  a  strong  man  would 
think  nothing  of  taking  three  times  the  distance  they  were  really  tired. 

"After  rice,  tea  and  an  hour's  rest,  including,  I  doubt  not,  a  smoke 
of  the  opium-pipe,  they  were  a  little  refreshed,  and  I  proposed  moving 
on  that  we  might  get  on  to  Ch'ang-an  before  the  sun  became  too  power- 
ful. My  servant,  however,  had  a  friend  in  the  city  and  proposed  that 
we  should  spend  the  day  there  and  go  on  the  following  morning.  To 
this  of  course  I  objected,  wishing  to  reach  Hai-ning  (the  point  of 
embarkation  for  Ning-po)  that  night  if  possible.  ...  We  therefore 
set  off,  entered  the  North  Gate,  and  had  passed  through  about  a  third 
of  the  city  when  the  coolies  stopped  to  rest  saying  they  would  be  un- 
able to  carry  the  burden  on  to  Chang-an.  Finally  they  agreed  to 
take  it  to  the  South  Gate,  where  they  were  to  be  paid  in  proportion 
to  the  distance  they  had  travelled,  and  my  servant  undertook  to  call 
other  coolies  and  come  along  with  them. 

"  I  walked  on  before  as  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  distance  being 
only  about  four  miles  soon  reached  Ch  ang-an  and  waited  their  arrival, 

1  Up  to  this  point  Mr.  Taylor  had  distributed  with  his  usual  care  as 
many  as  200  copies  of  the  New  Testament  and  3000  other  books  and 
tracts.  He  had  been  two  weeks  upon  his  way  (July  22-August  4)  and 
was  able  to  write  :  "  Never  since  I  have  been  in  China  have  I  had  such 
opportunities  for  preaching  the  Gospel." 

The  account  that  follows  of  the  rest  of  the  journey  is  taken  from  letters 
to  his  mother  and  to  the  Secretary  of  the  C.E.S.,  published  in  part  m  The 
Gleatier  for  December  1856. 


390  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

meanwhile  engaging  coolies  for  the  rest  of  the  journey  to  Hai-ning. 
Having  waited  a  long  time  I  began  to  wonder  at  the  delay,  and  at 
length  it  became  too  late  to  finish  the  journey  to  Hai-ning  that  night. 
I  felt  somewhat  annoyed,  and  but  that  my  feet  were  blistered  and  the 
afternoon  very  hot  I  should  have  gone  back  to  meet  them  and  urge 
them  on.  At  last  I  concluded  that  my  servant  must  have  gone  to  his 
friend,  and  would  not  appear  until  evening.  But  evening  came,  and 
still  there  was  no  sign  of  them. 

"  Feeling  very  uneasy,  I  began  diligently  to  inquire  whether  they 
had  been  seen. 

"  '  Are  you  a  guest  from  Shih-mun-wan,'  a  man  at  last  responded. 
•'  I  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
"  '  Are  you  going  to  Hai-ning  ?  ' 
" '  That  is  my  destination.' 

"  '  Then  your  things  have  gone  on  before  you.  For  I  was  sitting  in 
a  tea-shop  when  a  coolie  came  in,  took  a  cup  of  tea,  and  set  off  for 
Hai-ning  in  a  great  hurry,  sa}dng  that  the  bamboo  box  and  bed  he 
carried,  just  such  as  you  describe  yours  to  have  been,  were  from 
Shih-mun  and  he  had  to  take  them  to  Hai-ning  to-night,  where  he 
was  to  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  ten  cash  a  pound.' 

"  From  this  I  concluded  that  my  goods  were  on  before  me  ;  but  it 
was  impossible  to  follow  them  at  once,  for  I  was  too  tired  to  walk  and 
it  was  already  dark. 

"  Under  these  circumstances  all  I  could  do  was  to  seek  a  lodging  for 
the  night,  and  no  easy  task  I  found  it.    After  raising  my  heart  to  God 
to  ask  His  aid,  I  walked  through  to  the  farther  end  of  the  town,  where 
I  thought  the  tidings  of  a  foreigner's  being  in  the  place  might  not  have 
spread,  and  looked  out  for  an  inn.     I  soon  came  to  one  and  went  in, 
hoping  that  I  might  pass  unquestioned.  .  .  .  Asking  the  bill  of  fare, 
I  was  told  that  cold  rice — which  proved  to  be  more  than  '  rather 
burnt ' — and  snakes  fried  in  lamp-oil  were  all  that  could  be  had. 
Not  wishing  any  question  to  be  raised  as  to  my  nationality,  I  ordered 
some  and  tried  to  make  a  meal,  but  with  little  success. 
"  While  thus  engaged  I  remarked  to  the  landlord, 
"  '  I  suppose  I  can  arrange  to  spend  the  night  here  ?  ' 
"  To  which  he  replied  in  the  affirmative.     But  bringing  out  his 
book,  he  added  : 

"  '  In  these  unsettled  times  we  are  required  by  the  authorities  to 
keep  a  record  of  our  lodgers.  May  I  ask  your  respected  family 
name  ?  ' 

' '  '  My  unworthy  name  is  Tai,'  I  responded. 
"  '  And  your  honourable  second  name  ?  ' 
"  '  My  humble  name  is  la-koh  '  (James). 

"  '  What  an  extraordinary  name  !  I  never  heard  it  before.  How 
do  you  write  it  ?  ' 


MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS  391 

"  I  told  him,  and  added, '  It  is  quite  common  in  the  district  from 
which  I  come.' 

"  '  And  may  I  ask  whence  you  come  and  whither  you  are  going  ?  ' 

"'I  am  journeying  from  Shanghai  to  Ning-po,  by  way  of  Hang- 
chow.' 

'  "  What  may  be  your  honourable  profession  ?  ' 

"  '  I  heal  the  sick.' 

"  '  Oh  !  you  are  a  physician,'  the  landlord  remarked,  and  to  my 
intense  relief  closed  the  book.  His  wife,  however,  took  up  the  con- 
versation. 

'*  *  You  are  a  physician,  are  you  ?  I  am  glad  of  that ;  for  I  have  a 
daughter  afflicted  with  leprosy,  and  if  you  will  cure  her  you  shall  have 
your  supper  and  bed  for  nothing.' 

"  I  was  curious  enough  to  inquire  what  my  supper  and  bed  were  to 
cost  if  paid  for,  and  to  my  amusement  found  they  were  worth  less  than 
three-halfpence  of  our  money. 

"  Being  unable  to  benefit  the  girl  I  declined  to  prescribe  for  her, 
saying  that  leprosy  was  a  very  intractable  disease  and  that  I  had  no 
medicines  with  me. 

"  But  the  mother  brought  pen  and  paper,  urging, '  You  can  at  least 
write  a  prescription,  which  will  do  no  harm  if  it  does  no  good.' 

"  This  I  also  declined  to  do,  and  requested  to  be  shown  my  bed.  I 
was  conducted  to  a  very  miserable  room  on  the  ground-floor  where  on 
some  boards  raised  upon  two  stools  I  passed  the  night,  without  bed 
or  pillow  save  my  umbrella  and  shoe  and  without  any  mosquito 
netting.  Ten  or  eleven  other  lodgers  were  sleeping  in  the  same  room, 
so  I  could  not  take  anything  off  for  fear  of  its  being  stolen.  But  I 
was  by  no  means  too  warm  as  midnight  came  on." 

Tuesday,  August  5. 

Early  in  the  morning  I  rose,  cold,  weary  and  footsore,  and  I  had 
to  wait  a  long  time  ere  there  were  any  signs  of  breakfast.  After  this 
there  was  another  delay  before  I  could  get  change  for  the  only  dollar 
I  had  with  me,  in  consequence  of  its  being  chipped  in  one  or  two  places. 
More  than  three  hundred  cash  also  were  deducted  from  its  price  on 
this  account,  which  was  a  serious  loss  in  my  position. 

I  then  sought  throughout  the  town  for  tidings  of  my  servant  and 
coolies,  as  I  thought  it  possible  that  they  might  have  arrived  later  or 
have  come  on  in  the  morning.  The  town  is  large,  long  and  straggling, 
being  nearly  two  miles  from  one  end  to  the  other,  so  this  occupied 
some  time.  I  gained  no  information,  however,  and  footsore  and  weary 
set  out  for  Hai-ning  in  the  full  heat  of  the  day.  The  journey  (about 
eight  miles)  took  me  a  long  time,  but  a  half-way  village  afforded  a 
resting-place  and  a  cup  of  tea,  of  which  I  gladly  availed  myself. 
When  about  to  leave  again  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  came  on,  and  the 


392  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

delay  thus  occasioned  enabled  me  to  speak  a  little  to  the  people  about 

the  truths  of  the  Gospel. 

The  afternoon  was  far  spent  before  I  approached  the  northern 
suburb  of  Hai-ning  where  I  commenced  inquiries,  but  nothing  could 
I  learn  of  my  servant  or  belongings.  I  was  told  that  outside  the 
East  Gate  I  should  be  more  likely  to  hear  of  them,  as  it  was  there  the 
sea-junks  called.  I  therefore  proceeded  thither,  and  sought  for  them 
outside  the  Little  East  Gate,  but  in  vain.  Ver}'  weary  I  sat  down 
in  a  tea-shop  to  rest,  and  while  there  a  number  of  persons  from  one  of 
the  Mandarin's  offices  came  in  and  made  inquiries  as  to  who  I  was, 
where  I  had  come  from,  etc.  On  learning  the  object  of  -my  search 
one  of  the  men  in  the  tea-shop  said, 

"  A  bamboo  box  and  a  bed,  such  as  you  describe,  were  carried  past 
here  about  half  an  hour  ago.  The  bearer  seemed  to  be  going  toward 
either  the  Great  East  Gate  or  the  South  Gate.  You  had  better  go 
to  the  hongs  there  (business  houses)  and  inquire." 

I  asked  him  to  accompany  me  in  my  search,  promising  to  reward  him 
for  his  trouble,  but  he  would  not.  Another  man  offered  to  go,  however, 
and  we  set  off,  and  both  inside  and  outside  the  two  gates  made  dihgent 
inquiries,  but  in  vain.  I  then  engaged  a  man  to  make  a  thorough 
search,  promising  him  a  liberal  reward  if  he  should  be  successful. 
In  the  meantime  I  had  something  to  eat  and  addressed  a  large  con- 
course of  people  who  had  assembled. 

When  my  messenger  returned,  having  met  with  no  success,  I 
said  to  him  : 

"  I  am  now  quite  exhausted.  Will  you  help  me  find  quarters  for 
the  night,  and  then  I  will  pay  you  for  your  trouble  ?  " 

He  was  willing  to  befriend  me,  and  we  set  off  in  search  of  lodgings. 
At  the  first  place  or  two  the  people  would  not  receive  me,  for  though 
on  our  going  in  they  were  ready  to  do  so,  the  presence  of  a  man  who 
followed  us,  and  who  I  found  was  engaged  in  one  of  the  Government 
offices,  seemed  to  alarm  them,  and  I  was  refused.  We  now  went  to 
a  third  place,  and  being  no  longer  followed  by  the  Mandarin's  messenger 
we  were  promised  quarters.  Tea  was  brought  and  I  paid  the  man 
who  had  accompanied  me  for  his  trouble. 

Soon  after  he  had  left  some  official  people  came  in.  They  did  not 
stay  long,  but  the  result  of  their  visit  was  that  I  was  told  I  could  not 
be  entertained  there  that  night.  A  young  man  present  blamed  them 
for  their  heartless  behaviour  and  said  : 

"  Never  mind  :  come  with  me,  and  if  we  cannot  get  better  lodgings 
you  shall  sleep  at  our  house." 

I  went  with  him,  but  we  found  the  people  of  his  house  unwilling 
to  receive  me.  Weary  and  footsore  so  that  I  could  scarcely  stand, 
I  had  again  to  seek  quarters,  and  at  length  got  a  promise  of  some — 
but  a  little  crowd  collecting  about  the  door  they  desired  me  to  go  to  a 


MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS  393 

tea-shop  and  wait  till  the  people  had  retired,  or  they  would  be  unable 
to  accommodate  me.  There  was  no  help  for  it,  so  I  went  accompanied 
still  by  the  young  man  and  waited  till  past  midnight.  Then  we  left 
for  the  promised  resting-place,  but  my  conductor  could  not  find  it. 
He  led  me  about  to  quite  another  part  of  the  city,  and  finally  between 
one  and  two  o'clock  he  left  me  to  pass  the  rest  of  the  night  as  best  I 
could. 

I  was  opposite  a  temple  but  it  was  closed ;  so  I  lay  dowa  on  the 
stone  steps  in  front  of  it,  and  putting  my  money  under  my  head  for 
a  pillow  shoulc  soon  have  been  asleep,  in  spite  of  the  cold,  had  I  not 
perceived  a  person  coming  stealthily  towards  me.  As  he  approached 
I  saw  he  was  one  of  the  beggars  so  common  in  China,  and  had  no  doubt 
his  intention  was  to  rob  me  of  my  money.  I  did  not  stir,  but  watched 
his  movements,  and  looked  to  my  Father  not  to  leave  me  in  this  hour 
of  trial.  The  man  came  up,  looked  at  me  for  some  time  to  assure 
himself  that  I  was  asleep  (it  was  so  dark  that  he  could  not  see  my  eyes 
fixed  on  him),  and  then  began  to  feel  about  me  gently.  I  said  to  him 
in  the  quietest  tone,  but  so  as  to  convince  him  that  I  was  not  nor  had 
been  sleeping, 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  " 

He  made  no  answer,  but  went  away. 

I  was  thankful  to  see  him  go,  and  when  he  was  out  of  sight  put 
as  much  of  my  cash  as  would  not  go  into  my  pocket  safely  up  my 
sleeve,  and  made  my  pillow  of  a  stone  projection  of  the  wall.  It  was 
not  long  ere  I  began  to  dose,  but  I  was  aroused  by  the  all  but  noiseless 
footsteps  of  two  persons  approaching  ;  for  my  nervous  system  was 
rendered  so  sensitive  by  exhaustion  that  the  slightest  sound  startled 
me.  Again  I  sought  protection  from  Him  who  alone  was  my  stay, 
and  lay  still  as  before,  till  one  of  them  came  up  and  began  to  feel 
under  my  head  for  the  cash.  I  spoke  again,  and  they  sat  down  at 
my  feet.  I  asked  them  what  they  were  doing.  They  replied  that, 
like  me,  they  were  going  to  pass  the  night  outside  the  temple.  I 
then  requested  them  to  take  the  opposite  side  as  there  was  plenty 
of  room,  and  leave  this  side  to  me.  But  they  would  not  move 
from  my  feet.  So  I  raised  myself  up  and  set  my  back  against  the 
wall. 

"  You  had  better  lie  down  and  sleep,"  said  one  of  them, "  otherwise 
you  will  be  unable  to  work  to-morrow.  Do  not  be  afraid  ;  we  shall 
not  leave  you,  and  will  see  that  no  one  does  you  harm." 

"  Listen  to  me,"  I  replied.  "  I  do  not  want  your  protection.  I  do 
not  need  it.  I  am  not  a  Chinese,  and  I  do  not  worship  your  vain 
idols.  I  worship  God.  He  is  my  Father,  and  I  trust  in  Him.  I 
know  well  what  you  are  and  what  are  your  intentions,  and  shall  keep 
my  eye  on  you  and  not  sleep." 

Upon  this  one  of  them  went  away,  only  to  return  with  a  third 


394  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

companion.  I  felt  very  uneasy  but  looked  to  God  for  help.  Once  or 
twice  one  of  them  came  over  to  see  if  I  was  asleep. 
"  Do  not  be  mistaken,"  I  said,  "  I  am  not  sleeping." 
Occasionally  my  head  dropped  and  this  was  a  signal  for  one  of  them 
to  rise.  But  I  at  once  roused  myself  and  made  some  remark.  As 
the  night  slowly  wore  on,  I  felt  very  weary,  and  to  keep  myself  awake 
as  well  as  to  cheer  my  mind  I  sang  several  hymns,  repeated  aloud 
some  portions  of  Scripture,  and  engaged  in  prayer  ...  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  my  companions,  who  seemed  as  if  they  would  have  given 
anything  to  get  me  to  desist.  After  that  they  troubled  me  no  more, 
and  when  shortly  before  dawn  of  day  they  left  me  I  got  a  little  sleep. 

Wednesday,  August  6. 

It  was  still  quite  early  when  I  was  awakened  by  the  young  man 
who  had  so  misled  me  on  the  previous  evening.  He  was  very  rude 
and  insisted  on  my  getting  up  and  paying  him  for  his  trouble,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  try  to  accomplish  by  force  what  he  wanted.  This 
roused  me,  and  in  an  unguarded  moment,  with  very  improper  feeling, 
I  seized  his  arm  with  a  grasp  he  little  expected  and  dared  him  to  lay 
a  finger  on  me  again  or  to  annoy  me  further.  This  quite  changed  his 
manner.  He  let  me  quietly  remain  till  the  guns  announced  the  open- 
ing of  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  then  begged  me  to  give  him  something 
to  buy  opium  with.  Needless  to  say  this  was  refused.  I  gave  him 
the  price  of  two  candles  that  he  said  he  had  burnt  while  with  me  last 
night,  and  no  more.  I  afterwards  learned  he  was  connected  with  one 
of  the  Mandarin's  offices. 

As  soon  as  possible  I  bought  some  rice  gruel  and  tea  for  breakfast, 
and  then  once  more  made  a  personal  search  for  my  things.  Some 
hours  thus  spent  proving  unavailing  I  set  out  on  the  return  journey, 
and  after  a  long,  weary  and  painful  walk  reached  Chang-an  about 
noon.  Here  also  my  inquiries  failed  to  bring  any  trace  of  the  missing 
goods  ;  so  I  had  a  meal  cooked  in  a  tea-shop,  got  a  thorough  wash 
and  bathed  my  inflamed  feet,  and  after  dinner  rested  and  slept  until 
four  in  the  afternoon. 

Much  refreshed  I  then  set  off  to  return  to  the  city  at  the  South  Gate 
of  which  I  had  parted  with  my  servant  and  coolies  two  days  before. 
On  the  way  I  was  led  to  reflect  on  the  goodness  of  God,  and  recollected 
that  I  had  not  made  it  a  matter  of  prayer  that  I  might  be  provided 
with  lodgings  last  night.  I  felt  condemned  too  that  I  should  have 
been  so  anxious  for  my  few  things,  while  the  many  precious  souls 
around  me  had  caused  so  little  concern.  I  came  as  a  sinner  and  pleaded 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  realising  that  I  was  accepted  in  Him — pardoned 
cleansed,  sanctified — and  oh  the  love  of  Jesus,  how  great  I  felt  it  to 
be  !  I  knew  something  more  than  I  had  ever  known  of  what  it  was 
to  be  despised  and  rejected  and  have  nowhere  to  lay  one's  head,  and 


MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS  395 

felt  more  than  ever  I  had  before  the  greatness  of  the  love  that  induced 
Him  to  leave  His  home  in  glory  and  suffer  thus  for  me — nay,  to  lay 
down  His  very  life  upon  the  Cross.  I  thought  of  Him  as  "  despised 
and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief." 
I  thought  of  Him  at  Jacob's  well,  weary,  hungry  and  thirsty,  yet 
finding  it  His  meat  and  drink  to  do  His  Father's  will,  and  contrasted 
this  with  my  littleness  of  love.  I  looked  to  Him  for  pardon  for  the 
past  and  for  grace  and  strength  to  do  His  will  in  the  future,  to  tread 
more  closely  in  His  footsteps  and  to  be  more  than  ever  wholly  His. 
I  prayed  for  myself,  for  friends  in  England  and  for  my  brethren  in 
the  work.  Sweet  tears  of  mingled  joy  and  sorrow  flowed  freely  ;  the 
road  was  almost  forgotten  ;  and  before  I  was  aware  I  had  reached 
my  destination.  Outside  the  South  Gate  I  took  a  cup  of  tea,  asked 
about  my  lost  luggage  and  spoke  of  the  love  of  Jesus.  Then  I  entered 
the  city,  and  after  many  vain  inquiries  left  it  by  the  North  Gate. 

I  felt  so  much  refreshed  both  in  mind  and  body  by  the  communion 
I  had  on  my  walk  to  the  city  that  I  thought  myself  able  to  finish  the 
remaining  six  miles  back  to  Shih-mun-wan  that  evening.  First  I 
went  into  another  tea-shop  to  buy  some  native  cakes,  and  was  making 
a  meal  of  them  when  who  should  come  in  but  one  of  the  identical 
coolies  who  had  carried  my  things  the  first  stage.  From  him  I  learned 
that  after  I  left  them  they  had  taken  my  luggage  to  the  South  Gate. 
There  my  servant  went  away,  saying  on  his  return  that  I  had  gone  on, 
that  he  did  not  intend  to  start  at  once,  but  would  spend  the  day  with 
his  friend  and  then  rejoin  me.  They  carried  the  things  to  the  friend's 
house  and  left  them  there.  I  got  him  to  go  with  me  to  the  house,  and 
there  learned  that  my  servant  had  spent  the  day  and  night  with  them 
and  next  morning  had  set  off  for  Hang-chow.  This  was  all  I  could 
gather,  so  unable  to  do  anything  but  proceed  on  my  return  journey 
to  Shanghai  with  all  expedition,  I  left  the  city.  It  was  now  too  late 
to  go  on  to  Shih-mun-wan.  I  looked  to  my  Father  as  able  to  supply 
all  my  need,  and  received  another  token  of  His  ceaseless  love  and  care 
— being  invited  to  sleep  on  a  hong-boat,  now  dry  in  the  bed  of  the 
river. 

Thursday,  August  7. 

The  night  was  again  very  cold  and  the  mosquitoes  troublesome. 
Still  I  got  a  little  rest,  and  at  sunrise  was  up  and  able  to  continue  my 
journey.  I  felt  very  ill  at  first  and  had  a  sore  throat,  but  reflected 
on  the  wonderful  goodness  of  God  in  enabling  me  to  bear  the  heat  by 
day  and  the  cold  by  night  for  so  long.  I  felt  also  quite  a  load  taken 
off  my  mind.  I  had  committed  myself  and  my  affairs  to  the  Lord, 
and  knew  that  if  it  was  for  my  good  and  for  His  glory  my  things  would 
be  restored.     H  not,  all  would  be  for  the  best.     I  hoped  that  the  most 


396  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

trying  part  of  my  journey  was  now  drawing  to  a  close,  and  this  helped 
me,  footsore  and  weary,  on  the  way. 

When  I  got  to  Shih-mun-wan  and  had  breakfasted,  I  found  I  had 
still  eight  hundred  and  ten  cash  in  hand.  I  knew  that  the  fare  by 
passenger-boat  to  Ka-shing  was  one  hundred  and'  twenty  cash,  and 
thence  to  Shanghai  three  hundred  and  sixty,  which  would  leave  me 
just  three  hundred  and  thirty  cash  (twelve  pence  and  a  fraction)  for 
three  or  four  days'  provisions.  I  went  at  once  to  the  boat-office,  but 
to  my  dismay  found  that  goods  had  been  delayed  owing  to  the  dry 
state  of  the  river,  and  that  no  boat  would  leave  to-day  and  perhaps 
none  to-morrow.  I  inquired  if  there  were  no  letter-boats  for  Ka-shing, 
and  was  told  that  they  had  already  left.  The  only  remaining  resource 
was  to  ascertain  if  any  private  boats  were  going  in  which  I  could  obtain 
a  passage.  My  search,  however,  was  in  vain ;  and  I  could  get  no 
boat  to  take  me  all  the  way  to  Shanghai,  or  my  difficulty  would  have 
been  at  an  end. 

Just  at  this  juncture  I  saw  before  me,  at  a  turn  in  the  canal,  a  letter- 
boat  going  in  the  direction  of  Ka-shing.  This  I  concluded  must  be  one 
of  the  Ka-shing  boats  that  had  been  detained,  and  I  set  off  after  it  as 
fast  as  hope  and  the  necessities  of  the  case  would  carry  me.  For  the 
time  being  weariness  and  sore  feet  were  alike  forgotten,  and  after  a 
chase  of  about  a  mile  I  overtook  it. 

"  Are  you  going  to  Ka-shing  Fu  ?  "  I  called  out. 

"  No,"  was  the  only  answer. 

"  Are  you  going  in  that  direction  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Will  you  give  me  a  passage  as  far  as  you  do  go  that  way  ?  " 

Still  "  No,"  and  nothing  further. 

Completely  discouraged  and  exhausted,  I  sank  down  on  the  grass 
and  fainted  awa5\ 

As  consciousness  returned  some  voices  reached  my  ear,  and  I  found 
they  were  talking  about  me. 

"  He  speaks  pure  Shanghai  dialect,"  said  one  and  from  their  own 
speech  I  knew  them  to  be  Shanghai  people. 

Raising  myself  I  saw  that  they  were  on  a  large  hong-boat  on  the 
other  side  of  the  canal,  and  after  a  few  words  they  sent  their  small 
boat  to  fetch  me  and  I  went  on  board  the  junk.  They  were  very 
kind  and  gave  me  tea,  and  when  I  was  refreshed  and  able  to  partake 
of  it  some  food  also.  I  then  took  off  my  shoes  and  stockings  to  ease 
my  feet,  and  the  boatman  kindly  provided  hot  water  with  which  to 
bathe  them.  When  they  heard  my  story  and  saw  the  blisters  on  my 
feet  they  evidently  pitied  me,  and  hailed  every  boat  that  passed  to 
see  if  it  was  going  my  way.  Not  finding  one,  after  a  few  hours  sleep 
I  went  ashore  with  the  captain  intending  to  preach  in  the  temple  of 
the  God  of  War. 


MY  THOUGHTS  ARE  NOT  YOUR  THOUGHTS  397 

Before  leaving  the  junk  1  told  the  captain  and  those  on  board  that 
I  was  now  unable  to  help  myself ;  that  I  had  not  strength  to  walk  to 
Ka-shing  Fu,  and  having  been  disappointed  in  getting  a  passage  to-day 
I  should  no  longer  have  sufficient  means  to  take  me  there  by  letter- 
boat,  an  expensive  mode  of  travelling  ;  that  I  knew  not  how  God 
would  help  me,  but  that  I  had  no  doubt  He  would  do  so,  and  that  my 
business  now  was  to  serve  Him  where  I  was.  I  also  told  them  that 
the  help  which  I  knew  would  come  ought  to  be  an  evidence  to  them 
of  the  truth  0*  the  religion  which  I  and  the  other  missionaries  in 
Shanghai  preached. 

On  our  way  to  the  town,  engaged  in  conversation  with  the  captain, 
we  saw  a  letter-boat  coming  up.  The  captain  drew  my  attention  to  it, 
but  I  reminded  him  that  I  had  no  longer  money  enough  to  pay  for 
my  passage.  He  hailed  it  nevertheless,  and  found  that  they  were 
going  to  a  place  about  nine  miles  from  Shanghai,  whence  one  of  the 
boatmen  would  carry  the  mails  overland  to  the  city. 

"  This  gentleman  is  a  foreigner  from  Shanghai,"  he  then  said, 
"  who  has  been  robbed  and  has  no  longer  the  means  of  returning. 
If  you  will  take  him  with  you  as  far  as  you  go,  and  then  engage  a 
sedan-chair  to  carry  him  the  rest  of  the  way,  he  will  pay  you  in  Shang- 
hai. You  see  my  boat  is  now  lying  aground  for  want  of  water  and 
cannot  get  away.  I  will  stand  surety,  and  if  this  gentleman  does  not 
pay  you  when  you  get  to  Shanghai  I  will  do  so  on  your  return." 

Those  on  the  letter-boat  agreeing  to  the  terms,  I  bade  farewell  to 
my  kind  friend  and  was  taken  on  board  as  a  passenger.  As  I  lay 
down  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  how  soft  the  planks  felt,  and  how 
thankful  I  was  to  be  on  the  way  to  Shanghai  once  more  ! 

Long  and  narrow  in  build,  these  letter-boats  are  very  limited  as 
to  their  inside  accommodation,  and  one  has  to  lie  down  all  the  while 
they  are  in  motion,  as  a  slight  movement  might  upset  them.  This 
was  no  inconvenience  to  me,  however.  On  the  contrary,  I  was  only 
too  glad  to  be  quiet.  They  are  the  quickest  boats  I  have  seen  in 
China.  Each  one  is  worked  by  two  men  who  relieve  one  another 
continuously  day  and  night.  They  row  with  their  feet  and  paddle 
with  their  hands,  or  if  the  wind  is  quite  favourable,  row  with  their 
feet  and  with  one  hand  manage  a  small  sail,  while  steering  with 
the  other. 

The  ninety  It  ^  to  Ka-shing  Fu  were  soon  passed,  and  shortly  after 
dark  we  again  left  the  city — letters  having  been  received  and  delivered 
by  one  of  the  men,  while  the  other  prepared  our  evening  meal. 

Friday,  August  8. 

Morning  found  us  at  Ka-shan,  and  while  letters  were  being  attended 
to  I  went  on  shore,  had  my  head  shaved,  and  addressed  the  people 


1  Thirty  miles,  a  good  day's  journey  by  ordinary  houseboat. 


398  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

who  assembled.  We  then  breakfasted  and  got  off.  In  the  afternoon 
we  reached  Sung-kiang,  and  here  again  I  had  a  good  time  preaching 
in  an  unfrequented  quarter. 

Saturday,  ^MgMs^  9,  1856. 

About  8  A.M.  reached  Shanghai  and  the  hospitable  abode  of  Mr. 
Wylie  of  the  London  Mission,  completing  a  journey  full  of  mercies 
though  not  unmixed  with  trial.  Never  since  I  have  been  in  China 
have  I  had  such  opportunities  for  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  though 
the  termination  was  far  from  what  I  desired  it  has  been  greatly 
blessed  to  me,  and  I  trust  the  Word  preached  and  distributed  may 
bear  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God, 


^  CHAPTER  XXXII 

WHO   SHUTTETH   AND   NO   MAN   OPENETH 

August-October  1856.     Aet.  24. 

And  now  the  question  arose  as  to  what  was  to  be  done 
about  the  servant  who  had  made  off,  apparently,  with  Mr. 
Taylor's  belongings.  There  was  just  a  possibility  that 
official  interference  might  lie  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  and 
that  Yoh-hsi  was  in  detention  in  one  of  the  Yamens.  Before 
concluding  therefore  that  he  had  acted  dishonestly  a 
messenger  was  sent  to  make  careful  inquiries.  But  it  soon 
transpired  that  the  case  was  one  of  deliberate  robbery, 
Yoh-hsi's  own  letters  bringing  the  final  proof.  For  the 
recovery  of  the  property  it  would  not  have  been  difficult 
to  institute  legal  proceedings,  and  Mr.  Taylor  was  strongly 
urged  to  secure  the  punishment  of  the  thief  ;  but  the  more 
he  thought  about  it  the  more  he  shrank  from  anything  of 
the  sort. 

Yoh-hsi  was  one  whose  salvation  he  had  earnestly 
sought,  and  to  hand  him  over  to  cruel,  rapacious  underlings 
who  would  only  be  too  glad  to  throw  him  into  prison  that 
he  might  be  squeezed  of  the  last  farthing  would  not  have 
been  in  keeping,  he  felt,  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  Finally 
concluding  that  his  soul  was  worth  more  than  the  forty 
pounds  worth  of  things  he  had  stolen,  Mr.  Taylor  decided 
to  pursue  a  very  different  course. 

"  So  I  have  sent  him  a  plain,  faithful  letter/'  he  wrote  in  the  middle 
of  August,  "  to  the  effect  that  we  know  his  guilt,  and  what  its  conse- 
quences might  be  to  himself ;  that  at  first  I  had  considered  handing 
over  the  matter  to  the  Ya-men,  but  remembering  Christ's  command 

399 


400  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

to  return  good  for  evil  I  had  not  done  so,  and  did  not  wish  to  injure 
a  hair  of  his  head. 

"  I  told  him  that  he  was  the  real  loser,  not  I ;  that  I  freely  forgave 
him,  and  besought  him  more  earnestly  than  ever  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  I  also  added  that  though  it  was  not  likely  he  would 
give  up  such  of  my  possessions  as  were  serviceable  to  a  Chinese,  there 
were  among  them  foreign  books  and  papers  that  could  be  of  no  use 
to  him  but  were  valuable  to  me,  and  that  those  at  least  he  ought  to 
send  back. 

"  If  only  his  conscience  might  be  moved  and  his  soul  saved,  how 
infinitely  more  important  that  would  be  than  the  recovery  of  all  I 
have  lost.     Do  pray  for  him." 

In  course  of  time,  and  far  away  in  England,  this  letter 
came  into  hands  for  which  it  had  never  been  intended.  Mr. 
George  Miiller  of  Bristol,  founder  of  the  well-known  Orphan 
Homes,  read  it  with  thankfulness  to  God,  finding  in  the 
circumstances  an  exemplification  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Lord  Himself.  His  sympathies  were  drawn  out  to  the 
young  missionary  who  had  acted  in  what  he  felt  to  be  a 
Christ-like  spirit,  and  from  that  time  Hudson  Taylor  had  an 
interest  in  his  prayers. 

But  more  than  this.  As  soon  as  the  incident  became 
known  to  him,  he  sent  straight  out  to  China  a  sum  sufficient 
to  cover  Mr.  Taylor's  loss,  continuing  thereafter  to  take  a 
practical  share  in  his  work,  until  in  a  time  of  special  need 
he  was  used  of  God  as  the  principal  channel  of  support  to 
the  China  Inland  Mission.  And  all  this  grew  out  of  one 
little  act,  as  it  might  seem,  of  loyalty  to  the  Master  at  some 
personal  cost.  Only  there  are  no  little  acts  when  it  is  a 
question  of  faithfulness  to  God.  And  it  was  just  his 
simple  adherence,  in  every  detail,  to  Scriptural  principles 
that  gradually  inspired  confidence  in  Hudson  Taylor  and 
his  methods,  and  won  for  the  Mission  the  support  of 
spiritually  minded  people  in  many  lands. 

This  matter  settled,  it  only  remained  to  set  out  once 
more  to  obtain  from  Dr.  Parker  the  supplies  needed  for  the 
medical  work  at  Swatow.  This  time  the  journey  was 
accomplished  in  safety  ;  and  just  before  setting  out  Mr. 
Taylor  was  encouraged  by  an  imexpected  letter  that  relieved 


WHO  SHUTTETH  AND  NO  MAN  OPENETH   401 

him  of  what  might  have  been  financial  embarrassment. 
For  he  had  dedined  the  generous  offer  of  fellow-missionaries 
in  Shanghai  to  subscribe  towards  replacing  the  most 
necessary  things  he  had  lost.  Their  own  resources  as  he 
knew  were  none  too  ample,  and  he  felt  sure  the  Lord  would 
provide  without  drawing  upon  the  little  they  could  spare. 
The  sale  of  furniture  left  at  the  South  Gate  brought  in 
something,  and  then — how  wonderful  it  seemed — just  as 
he  was  starting  came  this  letter  that  had  been  eight  or  ten 
weeks  on  the  way : 

"  Please  accept  the  enclosed,"  it  said,  "  as  a  token  of  love  from 
myself  and  my  dear  wife."  And  the  enclosed  was  a  cheque  for  no 
less  than  forty  pounds  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Berger. 

Posted  long  before  Mr.  Taylor  had  left  Swatow,  it  arrived 
by  the  very  first  mail  after  the  robbery :  for  the  promise 
still  holds  good,  "  It  shall  come  to  pass  that  before  they  call 
I  will  answer,  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear."  ^ 

"  The  City  of  the  Peaceful  Wave  "  in  which  the  young 
missionary  now  found  himself  proved  even  more  interesting 
on  this  occasion  than  on  his  previous  visit.'  Then  an 
attack  of  illness  had  obliged  him  to  seek  the  cooler  air  of 
the  hills.  Now  though  it  was  again  summer  he  was  able 
to  throw  himself  heartily  into  all  that  was  going  on,  pre- 
pared by  the  experiences  of  another  year  in  China  more 
fully  to  appreciate  both  the  missionaries  and  their  work. 
Never  before  had  he  realised  the  comfort  and  advantage  of 
labouring  among  comparatively  friendly  people,  not  em- 
bittered against  the  missionary  simply  on  account  of  his 
being  a  foreigner.  Although  there  was  of  course  the  usual 
ignorance  and  superstition  in  Ning-po,  and  at  times  much 
anti-foreign  feeling,  there  was  also  a  large  element  of  interest 
and  even  inquiry  about  the  Gospel.  And  then  the  mission- 
aries themselves — how  delightful  to  be  in  the  midst  of  so 
united  and  efficient  a  community  ! 

In  point  of  time  the  two  American  Missions  had  the 

1  Isaiah  Ixv.  24. 

2  Arriving  at  Ning-po  (the  "City  of  the  Peaceful  Wave"  as  the 
Chinese  characters  imply)  on  August  22,  Mr.  Taylor  remained  for  seven 
weeks  with  Dr.  Parker,  taking  an  active  share  in  his  work. 

2  D 


402  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

priority,  as  well  as  in  strength  of  numbers  ;  and  an  interesting 
feature  in  connection  both  with  them  and  with  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  was  that  the  pioneers  were  all  still  on 
the  field,  men  rich  in  experience  and  devotion. 

Dr.  Macgowan,  for  example,  of  the  American  Baptist 
Union,  was  still  the  leader  of  their  important  mission,  and 
with  Miss  Aldersey  divided  the  honour  of  having  been  first 
to  settle  permanently  in  Ning-po.  With  him  were  now 
associated  Dr.  Lord  and  the  Rev.  M.  J.  Knowlton.  Living 
outside  the  city  wall,  these  brethren  carried  on  well- 
organised  and  extensive  operations,  extending  as  far  as  the 
island  of  Chusan,  in  which  they  had  several  converts. 

Across  the  river  from  this  group  lived  Dr.  Parker  and  his 
friendly  neighbours  the  American  Presbyterians.  Splendidly 
manned  from  the  first,  this  mission  was  still  represented  by 
its  founder,  Dr.  McCartee,  and  a  group  of  younger  men 
destined  to  make  their  mark  in  China — including  Messrs. 
Way  and  Rankin,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,^  and  the  late  beloved 
Dr.  Nevius. 

Within  the  city  itself,  enclosed  by  the  five-mile  circuit  of 
its  ancient  wall,  lived  the  pioneers  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  and  Miss  Aldersey  with  her  young  companions. 
From  the  Taoist  Monastery  with  its  surrounding  moat, 
Messrs.  Cobbold  and  Russell  had  moved  as  occasion  required 
into  school  and  chapel  buildings  in  various  parts  of  the 
city,  and  with  their  colleague  the  Rev.  F.  F.  Gough  had 
established  themselves  in  the  affections  of  the  people. 

So  also  had  Miss  Aldersey  and  her  fellow-workers,  the 
only  unmarried  ladies  in  that  missionary  circle.  In  a  large 
native  house  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city  they  were 
carrying  on,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  first  girls'  school 
ever  estabUshed  by  Protestant  missionaries  in  China.^ 

"  It  was  a  model  institution,"  wrote  Dr.  W.  A,  P.  Martin,  with 
the  interest  of  a  contemporary  and  friend.^  "  For  three  years  at 
her  request  I  ministered  to  the  Church  in  her  house,  and  I  cherish  a 

^  The  first  President  of  the  Peking  University,  author  of  A  Cycle  of 
Cathay  and  many  other  works,  and  now  the  oldest  representative  of  the 
missionary  body  in  China. 

2  See  Chap.  XXIV.  p.  308 

'  Quoted  from  his  well-known  book,  A  Cycle  of  Cathay. 


WHO  SHUTTETH  AND  NO  MAN  OPENETH   403 

vivid  impression  of  the  energy  displayed  by  that  excellent  woman, 
notwithstanding  a  feeble  frame  and  frequent  ailments.  The  impression 
she  made  on  the  Chinese  whether  Christian  or  pagan  was  profound, 
the  latter  firmly  believing  that  as  England  was  ruled  by  a  woman  so 
Miss  Aldersey  had  been  delegated  to  be  the  head  of  our  foreign  com- 
munity, '^he  British  Consul,  they  said,  invariably  obeyed  her  com- 
mands, 

"  Several  shocks  of  earthquake  having  alarmed  the  people,  they 
imputed  the  disturbance  to  Miss  Aldersey's  magic  power,  alleging 
that  they  had  seen  her  mount  the  city-wall  before  dawn  of  day,  and 
open  a  bottle  in  which  she  kept  confined  certain  strong  spirits  which 
proceeded  to  shake  the  pillars  of  the  earth. 

"  No  wonder  they  thought  so  !  The  only  wonder  is  that  they  did 
not  bum  or  stone  her  as  a  witch.  Her  strange  habits  could  not  but 
suggest  something  uncanny.  The  year  round  she  was  accustomed 
to  walk  on  the  city-wall  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  with 
such  undeviating  punctuality  that  in  winter  she  was  preceded  by  a 
man  bearing  a  lantern.  A  bottle  she  carried  in  her  hand  did  really 
contain  '  strong  spirits,'  spirits  of  hartshorn,  which  she  constantly 
used  to  relieve  headache  and  as  an  antidote  for  ill  odours.  In  summer, 
unwilling  to  leave  her  school  for  the  seaside,  she  would  chmb  to  the 
ninth  storey  of  a  lofty  pagoda  and  sit  there  through  the  long  hours  of 
the  afternoon,  sniffing  the  wind  that  came  from  the  sea.  At  such 
times  she  was  always  accompanied  by  some  of  her  pupils,  so  that  her 
work  was  not  for  a  moment  suspended.  So  parsimonious  was  she 
of  time  that  she  even  had  them  read  to  her  while  she  was  taking  her 
meals. 

"  Many  indeed  .  .  .  are  the  households  that  call  Miss  Aldersey 
blessed,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  in  the  long  list  of  devoted  women 
who  have  laboured  in  and  for  China,  I  know  no  nobler  name  than  hers." 

Scarcely  less  interesting  than  Miss  Aldersey,  if  one  may 
venture  to  say  so,  were  the  young  sisters  Burella  and  Maria 
Dyer  who  so  ably  filled  their  place  as  self-supporting  workers 
in  the  school.  Born  under  the  tropical  sun  of  the  Straits 
Settlements  and  brought  up  in  a  missionary  home,  theirs 
had  been  an  inheritance  of  no  ordinary  kind.  Their  father, 
one  of  the  earliest  agents  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
came  of  a  family  in  Government  service,'  and  was  educated 
at  Cambridge  for  the  English  Bar.  Burning  with  love  to 
Christ  he  had  left  all  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  China,  "  The 

1  He  was  the  son  of  a  certain  John  Dyer,  who  held  a  post  in  the 
Admiralty  about  the  time  of  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria. 


404  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Gibraltar  of  Heathenism,"  almost  as  unknown  in  those 
days  as  it  was  inaccessible.  Unable  to  effect  a  landing 
upon  its  shores,  he  had  devoted  himself  for  sixteen  years 
to  work  among  the  Chinese  in  and  near  Singapore,  and 
especially  to  the  perfecting  of  a  process  by  which  the  Word 
of  God  might  go  where  the  missionary  could  not,  and  the 
printed  page  be  produced  with  a  facility  impossible  before.^ 
In  this  task  he  had  been  prospered,  and  though  cut  off  by 
fatal  illness  just  after  the  opening  of  the  Treaty  Ports — 
when  he  with  many  another  was  rejoicing  in  freedom  to 
enter  the  land  for  which  they  had  so  long  prayed  and 
laboured — Samuel  Dyer  possesses  more  than  a  missionary 
grave  upon  its  shores,  the  first  to  mark  that  great  advance. 
Acting  as  Secretary  to  the  General  Missionary  Conference, 
the  first  ever  held  on  Chinese  soil,  Mr.  Dyer  spent  a  week 
or  more  at  Hong-kong  in  August  1843. 

"  From  my  windows,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife  in  Singapore,-  "  I  look 
across  to  the  lofty  summits  of  the  Chinese  hills.  .  .  .  The  sight  is 
almost  overwhelming.  In  my  happiest  moments  just  two  thoughts 
seem  to  concentrate  every  longing  of  my  heart.  One  is  that  the  name 
of  Jesus  may  be  glorified  in  China,  and  the  other  that  you  and  I  and 
each  of  our  dear  children  .  .  .  may  live  only  to  assist  in  bringing 
this  to  pass.  .  .  .  Cease  to  feel  the  intensest  interest  in  the  spiritual 
prosperity  of  China  I  never  can,  while  this  bosom  has  a  heart  to  feel. 
Cease  to  serve  the  cause  of  Christ  among  the  Gentiles  I  never  may, 
while  I  have  head  and  hands  to  work.  ...  I  am  as  happy  as  I  can 
be  without  you,  though  nothing  can  compensate  for  the  absence  of 
one  who  is  the  joy  of  my  heart.  .  .  .  Still,  I  am  about  my  Father's 
business.  And  if  I  may  but  do  something  for  the  evangelisation  of 
that  benighted  land,  come  sorrow,  come  joy,  come  grief,  come  delight, 
all,  all  shall  be  welcome  for  the  love  I  bear  to  Him  Who  bled  on  the 
mount  of  Calvary." 

And  though  even  then  his  work  was  done,  and  a  few 
weeks  later  he  was  laid  to  rest  beside  Morrison  in  the  little 
lonely  churchyard  at  Macao,  that  spirit  still  lived  on — both 

^  To  this  devoted  missionary  belongs  the  honour  of  introducing  a 
process  which  greatly  simplified  the  manufacture  of  movable  Chinese 
type,  thus  facihtating  the  way  for  the  rapid  production  of  Christian 
Uterature  for  one-fourth  of  the  human  race. 

2  He  was  singularly  happy  in  his  marriage  with  Miss  Maria  Tarn,  eldest 
daughter  of  Joseph  Tarn,  Esq.,  one  of  the  early  directors  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society. 


WHO  SHUTTETH  AND  NO  MAN  OPENETH  405 

in  the  son,  whose  life  was  subsequently  given  to  China, 
and  in  the  daughters  who  had  already  been  several  years 
with  Miss  Aldersey.  With  an  exceptionally  good  know- 
ledge of  the  Ning-po  vernacular  these  young  missionaries 
were  as  efficient  as  they  were  beloved,  and  added  not  a 
little  to  the  brightness  of  the  foreign  community. 

Such  then  was  the  circle  into  which  Hudson  Taylor  was 
introduced  for  the  second  time  by  this  visit,  and  greatly 
must  he  have  rejoiced  to  see  the  value  set  upon  his  former 
colleague  by  its  members.  Welcomed  in  a  most  generous 
spirit.  Dr.  Parker  had  been  successful  in  building  up  a 
practice  among  the  foreign  residents,  the  proceeds  of  which 
he  devoted  entirely  to  his  Medical  Mission.  Rapidly 
acquiring  the  local  dialect,  in  spite  of  every  hindrance  to 
study,  he  had  made  the  spiritual  care  of  the  patients  his 
first  work.  In  this  he  was  assisted  by  both  English  and 
American  missionaries,  who  took  in  turn  to  preach  in  the 
dispensary  (in  which  nine  thousand  patients  received 
treatment  within  the  first  twelve  months)  and  to  visit  the 
temporary  hospital. 

When  as  was  not  infrequently  the  case  these  labours 
resulted  in  blessing,  the  converts  were  free  to  join  any  of 
the  Churches,  Dr.  Parker  declining  to  influence  them  and 
making  it  very  clear  that  his  sympathies  were  with  all. 
At  the  time  of  Mr.  Taylor's  visit  he  was  rejoicing  in  the 
conversion  of  a  man  whose  baptism  in  connection  with  the 
C.M.S.  had  taken  place  the  week  before,  and  was  full  of 
thankfulness  also  for  a  forward  step  in  the  interests  of  his 
projected  buildings. 

With  money  contributed  in  Ning-po  he  had  been  enabled 
to  purchase  a  site  on  the  city-side  of  the  river.  And  such 
a  site — open,  central,  commanding,  on  the  brink  of  the 
great  water-way  and  close  to  the  Salt  Gate  with  its  constant 
stream  of  traffic  !  A  better  position  could  hardly  have 
been  found  for  the  permanent  hospital,  and  already  the 
energetic  doctor  was  having  the  ground  levelled  for  building 
operations. 

All  this,  of  course,  was  deeply  interesting  to  the  visitor 


4o6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

from  Swatow  who  was  expecting  to  return  to  such  very 
different  scenes. 

"  I  am  now  enjoying  a  season  of  rest  with  the  friends  here/'  he 
wTote  early  in  September.  "  It  must  be  of  short  duration,  however, 
for  long  repose  begets  indolence  and  weakness,  and  ill  becomes  a  soldier 
of  the  Cross.  To  me  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to  remain  on  here  or 
at  Shanghai,  among  more  civilised  and  friendly  people  than  we  have 
in  Swatow.  But  my  call  is  to  a  more  arduous  post ;  and  in  my  dear 
devoted  brother  Mr.  Burns  I  have  an  inestimable  companion  whom  I 
shall  rejoice  to  meet  again. 

"  I  sometimes  wonder  whether  I  shall  ever  be  settled,  and  long  for 
permanent  work  and  a  partner  to  share  all  my  joys  and  sorrows.  I 
think  in  His  own  time  I  shall  be  so  circumstanced  .  .  .  The  Lord 
knows.  But  the  only  true  rest  is  in  following  Jesus  '  whithersoever 
He  goeth  ' ;  the  only  satisfaction  is  in  labouring  for  and  with  Him. 
And  while  one  longs  for  quiet,  even  now  after  a  week  of  it  I  am  eager 
to  be  at  work  again,  telling  of  His  surpassing  love,  His  glorious 
redemption." 

And  work  he  did  with  all  his  usual  energy  in  spite  of 
summer  heat.  Careful  attention  to  the  peculiarities  of  local 
speech  soon  enabled  him  to  make  himself  understood  even 
by  Ning-po  people,  and  there  were  so  many  strangers  settled 
there  from  other  places  that  he  found  all  the  dialects  he 
knew  of  service. 

"  The  weather  is  very  warm,"  he  continued  a  little  later,  "  never- 
theless I  have  been  twice  in  the  country,  once  with  Mr.  Jones  to  Tse-ki 
and  once  with  Mr.  Quarterman  to  Chin-hai  Hsien.  .  .  .  To-day  I 
have  been  to  a  small  village  a  mile  or  two  away  with  Mr.  Jones.  He 
took  some  Portuguese  Testaments  and  found  three  men  able  to  read 
them,  a  Singapore  man  also  who  could  read  English  and  to  whom  he 
gave  a  Bible ;  while  I  had  an  attentive  audience  to  whom  I  told  of 
pardon,  peace  and  heaven  through  the  once-offered  sacrifice  of  Jesus, 
leaving  with  them  a  number  of  Chinese  tracts  and  Scriptures. 

"  Oh  what  an  abundant  harvest  may  soon  be  reaped  here  !  The 
fields  are  white  .  .  .  and  so  extensive  round  us  .  .  .  but  the  labourers 
are  few  !  I  do  thank  God  that  he  has  given  me  such  opportunities. 
...  I  have  met  with  a  good  many  even  from  Formosa  with  whom 
I  have  been  able  to  speak  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  I 
sometimes  wish  I  had  twenty  bodies,  that  in  twenty  places  at  once  I 
might  publish  the  saving  Name  of  Jesus." 

The  place  where  the  need  was  greatest,  however,  had 


WHO  SHUTTETH  AND  NO  MAN  OPENETH  407 

for  him  the  strongest  claim,  and  before  the  month  was 
over  he  was  ready  to  return  to  Mr.  Burns  at  Swatow.  Dr. 
Parker  had  fitted  him  out  with  medicines,  the  cost  of  which 
had  no  doubt  been  covered  by  Mr.  Berger's  recent  gift,  and 
much  benefited  by  his  change  of  work  and  surroundings 
Mr.  Taylor  was  just  setting  out  for  Shanghai  when  a  delay 
arose.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Way  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission 
had  to  take  the  journey  too.  They  would  have  little 
children  with  them,  and  travelling  is  always  so  precarious  : 
if  Mr.  Taylor  could  wait  a  day  or  two,  they  would  hurry 
their  preparations  for  the  sake  of  joining  his  party.  He 
was  already  escorting  Mr.  Jones  and  his  little  son,  newly- 
arrived  members  of  his  own  Mission,  and  it  would  mean 
a  great  deal  to  the  Ways  to  travel  in  their  company. 

Regretting  the  delay  but  having  no  reason  against  it 
Hudson  Taylor  waited,  and  almost  a  week  went  by  before 
the  final  start  could  be  made.  And  when  they  did  get  away 
the  journey  proved  specially  trying.  For  the  winds  were 
against  them,  which  made  the  actual  travelling  tedious, 
and  serious  illness  in  the  party  caused  Mr.  Taylor  much 
anxiety.  His  colleague  Mr.  Jones,  to  whom  he  had  become 
sincerely  attached  during  the  weeks  spent  together  at  Dr. 
Parker's,  developed  a  painful  malady,  and  as  the  child  was 
ill  too  it  meant  constant  nursing. 

Early  in  October  they  reached  their  destination,  and 
thankfully  exchanged  the  draughty  boat  for  a  missionary 
home  in  which  they  were  received  as  paying  guests.  And 
then,  having  discharged  his  commissions  and  handed  over 
the  patients  to  the  care  of  Dr.  Lockhart,  it  only  remained 
for  Hudson  Taylor  to  put  his  things  on  board  the  vessel 
that  was  taking  him  to  Swatow. 

Recent  letters  from  that  port  made  him  feel  afresh  how 
much  he  was  needed.  Though  not  expecting  him  back 
till  the  great  heat  was  over,  Mr.  Burns  had  been  sorely 
missing  him,  and  was  now  daily  awaiting  news  of  his  return 
to  take  up  the  work  they  had  planned  for  the  winter. 
Providentially  as  it  seemed  Captain  Bowers  was  again  in 
Shanghai,  on  the  eve  of  sailing,  and  cordially  welcomed  the 
young  missionary  as  his  passenger.     So  with  as  httle  delay 


4o8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

as  possible  Hudson  Taylor  sent  his  belongings  on  board 
the  Geelong  and  prepared  to  leave  Shanghai,  it  might  be 
permanently. 

And  then  the  unexpected  happened.  A  letter  from  the 
South  coming  to  one  of  the  members  of  the  London  Mission 
made  him  go  hurriedly  in  search  of  Hudson  Taylor. 

"  If  he  has  not  started,"  wrote  Mr.  Bums,  "  please  inform  him  at 
once  of  this  communication." 

It  was  to  the  effect  that  all  they  had  looked  forward  to 
in  Swatow  was  at  an  end  for  the  time  being,  Mr.  Bums 
having  been  arrested  in  the  interior  and  sent  to  Canton. 
Happily  he  had  escaped  summary  punishment  at  the  hands 
of  the  Chinese,  but  in  all  probability  it  would  be  long  before 
he  could  return  to  the  district  from  which  he  had  been 
ejected. 

It  was  Thursday  morning,  October  9.  The  Geelong 
was  sailing  in  a  few  hours  for  Swatow,  and  all  his  things 
were  on  board.  What  could  be  the  meaning  of  these 
tidings  ?  Mr.  Bums  imprisoned  and  sent  to  Canton  ? 
The  native  helpers  still  in  confinement,  wearing  the  terrible 
cangiie  and  in  danger  of  their  lives  ?  The  mission-premises 
empty  ?  The  British  authorities  unwilling  that  they 
should  return  ? 

Almost  dazed,  it  all  came  over  him.  First  one  check 
and  then  another ;  medicines  destroyed,  robbery  and  all 
it  had  entailed,  visit  to  Ning-po,  delay  in  getting  away, 
tedious  return  journey,  and  now  at  the  last  moment  a 
closed  door, — nothing  but  a  closed  door  and  a  dear,  sick 
brother  waiting  to  be  taken  back  to  the  city  from  which 
they  had  come. 

Yes,  there  was  no  question  but  to  go.  But  what  about 
Mr.  Bums  ?  Could  it  be  that  all  they  had  looked  forward 
to  was  not  of  the  Lord  ? 

"  Thine  ears  shall  hear  a  word  behind  thee  saying, 
This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it  "  .  .  . 

But  for  the  moment  the  path  that  had  seemed  so  clear 
before  them  was  lost  in  strange  uncertainty. 


Photograph  by 


G.  Whitfield  Guinness. 


THE    QUIET    END    OF    BRIDGE    STREET,    NEAR    THE    SUN    AND    MOON    LAKES. 

To  face  page  409 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT 

October  1856-MAY  1857.     Aet.  24-25. 

It  still  stands,  that  little  house  on  the  Wu-Family  Bridge 
Street  in  which  Hudson  Taylor  made  his  Ning-po  home. 
To  reach  this  somewhat  retired  spot  one  crosses  the  broad 
river  from  the  Settlement,  and  enters  the  city  by  the  Salt 
Gate  on  the  east.  Thence  a  walk  of  rather  over  a  mile 
through  the  principal  streets  leads  to  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Lakes,  between  the  ancient  Pagoda  and  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  city  wall.  Here  a  small  stone  bridge 
over  one  of  the  many  canals  gives  access  to  a  narrow 
thoroughfare,  at  the  end  of  which  another  bridge  spans  the 
junction  of  two  large  sheets  of  water,  the  Sun  and  Moon 
Lakes  respectively.  From  the  slightly  elevated  arch  of 
either  of  these  bridges  one  can  look  down  the  little  street, 
and  watch  the  tide  of  life  that  eddies  in  and  out  of  its 
temple,  shops,  and  homes. 

And  there  on  the  left,  after  crossing  the  canal,  stood  and 
still  stands  the  low  two-storied  building — just  an  ordinary 
shop  in  front  and  a  little  yard  behind — destined  to  become 
the  first  home  and  preaching-station  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission.  Dr.  Parker  was  using  the  premises  that  winter 
for  a  boys'  school  and  a  dispensary,  and  was  glad  to  let 
his  former  colleague  do  what  he  could  with  the  spacious 
attic  above. 

"  I  have  a  distinct  remembrance/'  said  Hudson  Taylor  many  years 
later^  "  of  tracing  my  initials  on  the  snow  which  during  the  night  had 
collected  on  my  coverlet  in  the  large  barnlike  upper  room^  now  divided 

409 


410  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

into  four  or  five  smaller  ones  each  of  which  is  comfortably  ceiled. 
The  tiling  of  a  Chinese  house  may  keep  off  the  rain,  if  it  happens  to 
be  sound,  but  does  not  afford  so  good  a  protection  against  snow, 
which  will  beat  up  through  crannies  and  crevices  and  find  its  way  within. 
But  however  unfinished  may  have  been  its  fittings,  the  little  house 
was  well  adapted  for  work  among  the  people,  and  there  I  thankfully 
settled,  finding  ample  scope  for  service,  morning,  noon,  and  night." 

The  only  other  foreigners  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
city  were  Miss  Aldersey  with  her  helpers,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jones  of  his  own  Mission.  The  latter  had  rented  an  un- 
occupied house  belonging  to  the  American  Presbyterians, 
semi-foreign  in  style,  and  were  doing  their  best  to  acquire 
the  language  and  adapt  themselves  to  the  life  of  the  people.^ 

Upon  making  their  home  at  Fu-zin  they  had  been 
visited  by  quite  a  number  of  Mandarins  and  other  persons 
of  influence,  as  well  as  by  hundreds  of  poorer  neighbours. 
These  visits  had  to  be  returned  as  far  as  possible,  and  with 
three  little  children  to  take  care  of  as  well  as  the  language 
to  study,  Mrs.  Jones  found  her  hands  more  than  full. 

Busy  as  he  was  in  his  own  corner,  almost  a  mile  away, 
Hudson  Taylor  made  time  to  go  over  frequently  to  the  help 
of  his  friends,  and  the  more  he  saw  of  them  the  more  he  was 
impressed  by  their  devotion  and  sweetness  of  spirit.  With 
his  assistance,  Mr.  Jones  was  soon  able  to  begin  regular 
meetings,  and  many  were  the  preaching  excursions  they 
made  both  in  and  around  the  city. 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Jones,  too,  had  found  a  helper  in  the 
younger  of  the  sisters  associated  with  Miss  Aldersey  at 
Siao-kao-tsiang.  When  the  new  family  came  to  settle  near 
them,  this  bright  attractive  girl  laid  herself  out  to  be  useful 
to  the  busy  mother.  As  often  as  possible  they  went  visiting 
together,  Miss  Dyer's  perfect  fluency  in  the  language  enabling 
her  to  make  the  most  of  such  time  as  they  could  give  to 
this  work.     Young  as  she  was  (not  yet  twenty),  and  much 

^  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  had  been  seven  months  in  China  ;  but  had  not 
reached  Ning-po  until  June  of  this  year.  Detained  at  Hong-kong  by 
serious  illness,  and  by  the  death  of  their  eldest  child,  they  had  suffered 
much  for  the  land  to  which  their  lives  were  given.  But  in  it  all  their 
faith  and  love  only  deepened,  and  their  longing  to  comfort  others  with  the 
comfort  wherewith  they  themselves  were  "  comforted  of  God." 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    411 

occupied  with  her  school-classes,  Da-yia  Ku-niang  '  could 
not  be  satisfied  with  anything  less  than  soul-winning. 
With  her,  missionary  work  was  not  teaching  the  people 
merely,  it  was  definitely  leading  them  to  Christ. 

"  That  was  what  drew  out  my  interest,"  said  Hudson 
Taylor  long  after.  "  She  was  spiritually-minded,  as  her 
work  proved.     Even  then  she  was  a  true  missionary." 

For  it  could  not  but  be  that  the  young  Englishman 
living  alone  on  Bridge  Street  should  meet  Miss  Dyer  from 
time  to  time  at  the  house  of  his  friends,  and  it  could  not 
but  be  also  that  he  should  be  attracted.  She  was  so  frank 
and  natural  that  they  were  soon  on  terms  of  good  acquaint- 
ance, and  then  she  proved  so  like-minded  in  all  important 
ways  that,  unconsciously  almost  to  himself,  she  began  to 
fill  a  place  in  his  heart  never  filled  before. 

Vainly  he  strove  against  the  longing  to  see  more  of  her, 
and  did  his  utmost  to  banish  her  image  from  his  mind. 
He  was  deeply  conscious  of  his  call  to  labour  in  the  interior, 
and  felt  that  for  such  work  he  should  be  free  from  claims  of 
wife  and  home.  Besides,  all  was  uncertain  before  him. 
In  a  few  weeks  or  months  the  way  might  open  for  his  return 
to  Swatow.  Was  he  not  waiting  daily  upon  the  Lord  for 
guidance,  with  the  needs  of  that  region  still  in  view  ?  And 
if  it  were  not  to  be  Southern  China,  it  was  his  hope  and 
purpose  to  undertake  pioneering  work  nearer  at  hand,  work 
that  might  at  any  time  cost  his  life.  No,  it  was  not  for 
him  to  cherish  thoughts  such  as  would  rise  unbidden  as 
he  looked  into  the  face  he  loved.  And  yet  he  could  not 
but  look,  strange  to  say,  and  long  to  look  again. 

And  then  arguments  were  not  wanting  along  other  lines 
that  would  array  themselves  before  him.  What  right  had 
he  to  think  of  marriage,  without  a  home,  income,  or  prospect 
of  any  that  he  could  ask  her  to  share.  Accredited  agent  of 
the  C.E.S.  though  he  was,  it  did  not  at  all  follow  that 
they  were  to  be  depended  upon  for  financial  supplies.  For 
months  he  had  not  drawn  upon  his  Letter  of  Credit,  knowing 
the  Society  to  be  in  debt.     Chiefly  through  the  ministry 

1  Ku-niang  (aunt-mother)  is  the  title  in  courtesy  of  an  unmarried  lady, 
and  the  combined  monosyllables  Da-yia  form  the  nearest  Ning-po  sound- 
equivalent  for  the  EngUsh  surname  Dyer. 


412  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

of  Mr.  Berger,  the  Lord  had  supplied  his  needs.  But 
this  might  not  continue.  It  could  not  at  any  rate  be 
counted  on.  And  what  would  she  say,  and  those  responsible 
for  her,  to  a  life  of  faith  in  China,  faith  even  for  daily 
bread  ? 

Yes,  it  was  perfectly  clear  :  he  was  in  no  position  to 
think  of  marriage,  and  must  subdue  the  heart-hunger  that 
threatened  at  times  to  overwhelm  him.  And  to  a  certain 
extent  he  was  helped  in  turning  his  thoughts  to  other 
matters  by  events  transpiring  in  the  South. 

For  like  a  bolt  out  of  the  blue  had  come  the  sudden 
tidings  that  England  was  involved  again  in  war  with  China. 
On  the  spot  and  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  we  had  fanned 
a  tiny  spark  into  a  blaze,  and  the  Chinese,  all  unconscious 
of  results,  had  dared  to  disapprove  and  even  resent  our 
high-handed  conduct.  But  this  meant  war,  if  war  it  could 
be  called  between  combatants  so  unequal,  and  within  forty- 
eight  hours  British  guns  were  thundering  at  the  gates  of 
Canton.^ 

All  this  had  taken  place  earlier  in  the  autumn,  but  it 
was  only  in  the  middle  of  November  that  the  news  began 
to  reach  the  northern  ports.  When  he  first  heard  of  it, 
and  saw  from  the  revengeful  spirit  of  the  Cantonese  in 
Ning-po  how  they  regarded  the  attack  upon  their  native 
city,  Hudson  Taylor's  first  thought  was  for  Mr.  Burns. 
What  a  comfort  that  he  was  no  longer  at  Swatow,  exposed 
to  the  rage  of  that  hot-headed  southern  people.  Now  at 
last  a  reason  was  manifest,  not  only  for  the  removal  of  his 
friend,  but  also  for  his  own  detention  on  the  very  eve  of 
returning. 

"  As  you  are  aware,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister  on  November  i6,  "  I 
have  by  various  circumstances  been  detained  in  Ning-po,  and  a 
sufficient  cause  has  at  length  appeared  in  the  disturbances  that  have 
broken  out  in  the  South.  The  latest  news  we  now  have  is  that  Canton 
has  been  bombarded  for  two  days,  a  breach  being  made  on  the  second, 
and  that  the  British  entered  the  city,  the  Viceroy  refusing  to  give  any 

'  Growing  out  of  the  paltry  affair  of  the  Arrow  in  October  1856,  this 
war  did  not  come  to  a  final  conclusion  until  four  years  later  (October  i860), 
when  Peking  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    413 

satisfaction.  We  are  anxiously  waiting  later  and  fuller  accounts.  .  .  . 
I  know  not  the  merits  of  the  present  course  of  action  .  .  .  and  there- 
fore forbear  writing  my  thoughts  about  it.  But  I  would  just  refer  to 
the  goodness  A  God  in  removing  dear  Mr.  Burns  in  time,  ...  for 
if  one  may  judge  of  the  feelings  of  the  Cantonese  in  Swatow  by  what 
one  sees  here  at  present,  it  would  go  hardly  with  any  one  at  their 
mercy." 

But  following  on  feelings  of  thankfulness  for  the  escape 
of  his  friend  would  come  sadder  reflections  as  to  the  motive 
and  the  meaning  of  the  war.  He  could  not  but  know  that 
for  fourteen  uneasy  years  ^  England  had  been  pressing 
China  by  every  argument  that  could  be  devised,  to  legalise 
the  importation  of  opium  ;  that  in  spite  of  the  refusal  of 
the  Emperor  Tao-kwang  to  admit  at  any  price  "  the  flow- 
ing poison,"  the  smuggling-trade  had  gone  on  growing  in 
defiance  of  treaty  rights  ;  that  one  war  having  failed  to 
bring  the  Chinese  to  our  point  of  view,  there  had  long  been 
an  inclination  in  certain  quarters  to  bring  on  a  second  ; 
and  that  although  for  the  moment  the  British  Admiral  had 
suspended  hostilities,  the  inevitable  outcome  of  so  one-sided 
a  conflict  must  be  the  humiliation  of  China  and  the 
triumph  of  our  opium-policy. 

As  to  immediate  results,  they  appeared  for  the  moment 
to  be  in  the  other  direction.  The  Cantonese,  in  the  elation  of 
their  supposed  victory  over  the  British  fleet,  were  trying 
high-handed  measures  against  the  hated  foreigner.  They 
could  not  know  that  although  Admiral  Se5niiour  had  with- 
drawn from  Canton,  evacuating  the  dismantled  forts  along 
the  river.  Sir  John  Bowring  had  sent  home  for  reinforce- 
ments, and  that  in  spite  of  the  condemning  voice  of  a  large 
majority  in  the  British  Parliament,  the  war  would  be 
adopted  by  the  nation.  They  only  saw  their  chance  of 
retaliation,  and  very  naturally  made  the  most  of  it.  Thus 
the  British  factories  were  set  on  fire  at  Canton,  and  a  price 
put  on  the  head  of  every  foreigner.  The  chief  baker  at 
Hong-kong  thought  to  help  on  the  cause  by  introducing  into 
his  bread  sufficient  arsenic  to  poison  the  European  com- 
munity.    Happily  he  miscalculated  the  amount  required, 

*  Fourteen  years  since  the  conclusion,  in  1842,  of  England's  first  war 
with  China,  justly  called  "  the  Opium  War."     See  Chap.  VII. 


414  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  though  four  hundred  of  his  victims  suffered  more  or  less 
seriously,  in  only  one  case  was  the  result  fatal. 

All  this  of  course  raised  a  serious  question  :  To  what 
lengths  would  the  revengeful  spirit  run  ?  How  about 
others  ports  and  Settlements,  and  especially  Ning-po  with 
its  large  proportion  of  Cantonese  ?  Hitherto  they  had 
contented  themselves  with  threatenings  merely  ;  but  would 
it,  could  it,  continue  so  much  longer  ? 

Up  to  the  end  of  the  year  all  was  quiet,  and  on  Christmas 
Day  Mr.  Jones  was  able  to  write  : 

"  The  disturbances  in  the  South  do  not  appear  to  affect  the  people 
here  in  any  evil  way  against  us,  though  there  are  rumours  among  them 
that  the  Emperor  has  ordered  us  all  to  be  expelled.  This  is  probably 
without  foundation,  but  it  makes  us  realise  what  it  would  mean  if 
we  were  suddenly  required  to  leave.  We  are  just  beginning  to  feel 
at  home  amongst  the  people.  Our  hearts  are  drawn  out  to  them  in 
proportion  as  we  know  them,  and  we  are  longing  to  enter  fully  upon 
our  work.    Oh,  that  these  threatened  hindrances  may  be  averted  ! 

Early  in  January,  however,  the  hatred  of  the  Cantonese 
began  to  take  definite  form,  and  a  plot  was  hatched  for  the 
destruction  of  all  the  foreigners  in  the  city  and  neighbour- 
hood. It  was  well  known  that  in  the  C.M.S.  house  (Mr. 
Russell's),  not  far  from  the  Salt  Gate,  a  meeting  was  held 
every  Sunday  evening,  attended  by  a  large  proportion  of  the 
European  community.  Consuls,  merchants,  and  missionaries. 
They  were  of  course  unarmed  ;  and  the  plan  was  to  surround 
the  place  on  a  given  occasion  and  make  short  work  of  all 
present.  A  Mohammedan  teacher  who  had  once  been 
employed  by  one  of  the  missionaries  was  bought  over  to 
lead  the  assailants,  and  any  foreigners  who  were  not  in  the 
habit  of  attending  the  service  were  to  be  attacked  and  cut 
off  simultaneously  by  the  other  parties. 

"  The  sanction  of  the  Tao-tai,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city," 
wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  was  easily  obtained  ;  and  nothing  remained  to 
hinder  the  execution  of  the  plot,  of  which  we  were  of  course  entirely 
in  ignorance.  A  similar  design  against  the  Portuguese  community 
was  actually  carried  out  a  few  months  later,  between  fifty  and  sixty 
being  massacred  in  open  daylight. 

"  It  so  happened,  however,  that  one  of  those  in  the  conspiracy  was 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    415 

anxious  for  the  safety  of  a  friend  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  mission- 
aries, and  went  so  far  as  to  warn  him  of  coming  danger  and  urge  his 
leaving  the  empioy  of  the  foreigners.  The  servant  at  once  made  the 
matter  known  to  his  master,  and  thus  the  httle  community  became 
aware  of  their  peril.  Realising  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  they 
determined  to  meet  together  at  the  house  of  one  of  their  number  to 
seek  protection  of  the  Most  High,  and  to  hide  under  the  shadow  of 
His  wings.     Nor  did  they  thus  meet  in  vain. 

"  At  the  very  time  we  were  praying  the  Lord  was  working.  He  led 
an  inferior  Mandarin,  the  Superintendent  of  Customs,  to  call  upon 
the  Tao-tai,  and  remonstrate  with  him  upon  the  folly  of  permitting 
such  an  attempt,  which  he  assured  him  would  arouse  foreigners  in 
other  places  to  come  with  armed  forces,  avenge  the  death  of  their 
countrymen,  and  raze  the  city  to  the  ground.  The  Tao-tai  replied 
that  when  they  came  for  that  purpose  he  should  deny  all  knowledge 
of  or  complicity  in  the  plot,  and  so  direct  their  vengeance  against  the 
Cantonese,  who  would  in  their  turn  be  destroyed. 

"  '  And  thus,'  he  said,  '  we  shall  get  rid  of  both  Cantonese  ^  and 
foreigners  by  one  stroke  of  policy.' 

"The  Superintendent  of  Customs  persistently  assured  him  that  such 
attempts  at  evasion  would  be  useless  ;  and  finally  the  Tao-tai  withdrew 
his  permission  and  sent  to  the  Cantonese  prohibiting  the  attack. 

"  This  took  place,  as  we  afterwards  discovered,  just  at  the  time  we 
were  met  together  for  special  prayer  and  to  commit  the  matter  to 
the  Lord.    Thus  again  were  we  led  to  prove  that : 

Sufficient  is  His  arm  alone. 
And  our  defence  is  sure. 

But  the  Cantonese  were  not  pacified.  Prayer  had  for 
the  moment  prevailed ;  but  such  machinations  might 
recur  at  any  time,  and  the  foreign  community  was  so 
scattered  and  unprotected  that  the  situation  seemed  one 
of  special  danger. 

"  The  peril  that  threatened  us,"  wrote  Dr.  Parker  on  the  30th 
of  January,  "  was  so  great,  especially  last  week  and  this,  that  the 
merchants  of  the  Settlement  prepared  for  flight  by  keeping  at  single 
anchor  the  vessel  on  which  their  valuables  had  been  stored.  They 
and  some  others  had  their  houses  guarded  by  armed  men  ;  and  after 
much  prayer  several  missionaries,  including  Mr.  Jones  and  myself, 
were  led  to  send  our  wives  and  children  to  Shanghai." 

1  "The  rapacity  and  lawlessness  of  tlie  Cantonese  when  away  from 
their  native  province  cause  them  to  be  both  dreaded  and  disliked  by  the 
people  in  general.  From  their  habit  of  confederating  themselves  together 
in  secret  clubs  or  societies,  the  local  government  officials  are  often  power- 
less to  act  against  them." 


4i6  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

One  reason  for  this  was  that  the  great  cold  of  winter 
was  coming  on,  and,  if  flight  were  left  till  the  last  moment, 
it  might  mean  fatal  exposure,  especially  to  delicate  children. 
The  wildest  rumours  were  everywhere  afloat ;  and  in  the 
event  of  a  general  war  with  China,  Shanghai  might  be  the 
only  port  held  by  foreigners.  It  seemed  desirable  to  secure 
accommodation  there  at  once.  And  as  it  was  accessible  by 
regular  steamer  service,  the  removal  could  be  accomplished 
without  difficulty,  and  the  return  in  the  spring  or  summer 
would  be  equally  simple. 

Thus  it  was  that  Hudson  Taylor,  three  months  after 
settling  in  Ning-po,  found  himself  called  to  move  again. 
No  one  else  seemed  so  free  to  escort  the  party,  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  Shanghai  dialect  made  it  easy  for  him 
to  do  so.  He  could  be  just  as  useful  in  Shanghai  as  in 
Ning-po,  an  important  consideration  when  the  stay  might 
be  a  long  one. 

Personally  he  would  have  given  a  good  deal  to  have 
remained  in  Ning-po  just  then,  if  only  to  watch  over  the 
safety  of  the  one  he  loved.  For  Miss  Aldersey  would  not 
leave,  and  her  young  helpers  decided  to  stay  with  her. 
She  was  just  handing  over  her  school,  from  the  superin- 
tendence of  which  she  felt  it  wise  to  retire,  to  the  American 
Presbyterian  Mission.  A  connection  of  the  Misses  Dyer 
had  come  over  from  Penang,  and  into  her  hands  the  sixty 
girls  with  all  the  school  affairs  had  to  be  committed.  It 
was  no  time  for  unnecessary  changes  ;  and,  taking  what 
precautions  she  could  for  her  own  safety  and  that  of  her 
charges.  Miss  Aldersey  stayed  to  complete  her  work. 

But  to  leave  them  then  and  so  was  no  easy  matter  to 
Hudson  Taylor.  The  elder  of  the  sisters  had  recently  become 
engaged  to  his  friend  Mr.  Burdon,  and  seemed  in  consequence 
to  have  a  special  protector ;  but  the  younger  was  left  all 
the  more  lonely,  and  claimed  for  that  very  reason  a  deeper 
love  and  sympathy  from  his  heart.  Of  course,  he  dared  not 
show  it.  He  had  no  reason  to  think  that  it  would  be  any 
comfort  to  her,  and — was  he  not  trying  to  forget  ?  So  he 
suffered  keenly  as  he  left  his  little  home  on  Bridge  Street, 
not  knowing  if  he  would  ever  see  it  or  her  again. 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    417 

Four  and  a  half  months  followed,  in  which  the  young 
missionary  was  engrossed  in  work  in  his  old  surroundings. 
Living  as  before  in  one  of  the  London  Mission  houses,  he 
might  almost  have  imagined  himself  back  in  the  old  days 
with  Dr.  Parker  and  his  family.  Only  Chinese  dress,  seven 
months  with  William  Burns,  and  the  great  love  that  had 
come  to  him  changed  everything  for  Hudson  Taylor.  Then, 
too,  he  was  by  this  time  quite  an  efficient  missionary.  Three 
years  in  China  had  given  him  a  good  hold  of  several  dialects 
and  considerable  experience  in  work  of  various  kinds.  One 
of  the  chapels  of  the  London  Mission  placed  at  his  disposal 
gave  him  important  opportunities  for  preaching,  besides 
which  he  daily  addressed  large  and  changing  audiences  in 
the  Temple  of  the  City  God.  Returning  regularly  to  these 
places  he  and  Mr.  Jones  came  to  be  known  and  expected, 
and  many  were  the  conversations  held  with  interested 
inquirers. 

"When  I  first  heard  you  preach,"  said  a  young  incense- 
maker,  "  I  found  what  I  was  longing  for."  Illness  and 
desperate  troubles  had  almost  driven  him  to  suicide,  and 
he  had  tried  by  becoming  a  devout  vegetarian  to  obtain  the 
consolations  of  "  religion."  This  involved  the  recitation  of 
endless  prayers  to  Buddha,  and  burning  incense  before  many 
idols. 

"  It  did  me  no  good,  however,"  he  continued.  "  I  got 
no  better,  until  in  the  temple-garden  I  heard  about  Jesus. 
But  He  just  suits  my  case  !  ...  If  you  had  instructed  me 
to  be  immersed  in  fire  instead  of  in  water,  I  should  have 
desired  it  with  all  my  heart." 

During  the  first  three  months  of  their  stay  in  Shanghai 
(February  to  April)  Mr.  Jones  and  his  colleague  gave  away 
in  connection  with  such  work  more  than  seven  hundred 
New  Testaments,  besides  large  numbers  of  Gospels  and  tracts. 
This  meant  hours  and  hours  of  conversation  daily,  for 
books  were  given  only  to  those  who  could  appreciate  them, 
and  they  were  keeping  mainly  to  these  two  preaching- 
stations,  learning  to  value  increasingly  the  steady,  settled 
line  of  things  that  maintains  its  influence  over  the  same 
hearers. 

2  E 


4i8  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Meanwhile  letters  were  reaching  Hudson  Taylor  from 
Swatow,  telling  of  the  return  of  his  dear  and  honoured 
friend,  and  the  recommencement  of  work  there  with  many 
tokens  of  encouragement.  Mr.  Burns  wrote  with  all  the 
old  affection,  anticipating  a  renewal  of  their  partnership 
in  service.  But  while  rejoicing  that  Swatow  was  again 
occupied,  and  that  Dr.  De  la  Porte  had  undertaken  the 
medical  side  of  the  work,  Hudson  Taylor  had  no  longer 
any  doubt  as  to  his  own  relation  to  it.  For  him  that  door 
was  closed.  Again  and  again,  while  making  it  a  matter 
of  special  prayer,  hindrances  had  been  put  in  the  way  of 
his  return,  until  he  had  come  to  see  that  it  was  not  of 
the  Lord.  That  was  enough.  With  him  a  question  once 
settled  in  the  faith  and  fear  of  God  there  was  no  reopening 
it.  Throughout  life  it  was  one  of  his  outstanding  char- 
acteristics that  he  never  went  back  on  what  had  once  been 
made  clear  to  him  as  Divine  guidance. 

So  the  Swatow  question  was  settled,  hard  though  it  must 
have  been  not  to  reconsider  it  in  the  light  of  Mr.  Burns' 
letters,  and  the  absence  of  any  personal  attraction  toward 
remaining  where  he  was. 

For  their  way  was  anything  but  easy  at  this  time. 
During  the  whole  period  of  their  stay  in  Shanghai  they  were 
surrounded  by  suffering  and  distress  of  the  most  painful 
kind.  Famine  refugees  from  Nanking  had  poured  into  the 
city  until  there  were  thousands  of  destitute  and  starving 
persons  added  to  the  ranks  of  beggary.  This  meant  that 
one  never  could  go  out  without  seeing  heart-rending  scenes, 
which  the  conditions  of  life  around  them  made  it  almost 
impossible  to  relieve. 

Returning  from  the  city  one  evening  Mr.  Jones  and  his 
companion  were  distressed  to  find  the  body  of  a  dead  beggar 
lymg  by  the  roadside.  The  weather  was  bitterly  cold,  and 
he  had  slowly  perished  for  lack  of  food  and  shelter.  No 
one  seemed  to  notice,  no  one  seemed  to  care.  It  was  a 
sight  too  common,  alas  !  But  the  missionaries  could  bear 
it  no  longer. 

"  We  took  food  with  us,"  wrote  Mr.  Jones,  "  and  sought  out  others. 
Many  of  these  poor  creatures  .  .  .  have  their  dwelling  literally  among 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    419 

the  tombs.  Graves,  here,  are  often  simple  arches,  low.  and  from  ten 
to  twelve  feet  long.  One  end  being  broken  through,  they  creep  in- 
side for  shelter,  specially  at  night.  ...  We  found  them  in  all  stages 
of  nakedness,  sickness  and  starvation.'' 

This  led  to  earnest  work  on  their  behalf,  to  the  comfort 
of  many. 

"  In  our  search,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  we  came  upon  the  remains  of 
a  house  bearing  witness  to  the  troublous  times  through  which  Shanghai 
had  passed.  .  .  .  Affording  some  little  shelter  from  the  weather,  it 
had  been  taken  possession  of  by  beggars,  and  in  it  we  found  a  large 
number  collected — some  well  and  able  to  beg,  others  dying  of  starva- 
tion and  disease.  From  this  time  we  made  regular  visits  to  these 
poor  creatures,  and  helped  those  who  were  unable  to  help  themselves. 
.  .  .  We  found,  as  is  always  the  case,  how  difficult  it  is  to  care  for 
body  and  soul  at  the  same  time.  We  did,  nevertheless,  as  far  as  we 
were  able,  and  I  trust  the  seed  sown  was  not  without  fruit  in  the 
salvation  of  souls."  ^ 

Inwardly,  too,  it  was  a  time  of  trial.  A  debt  of  over 
a  thousand  pounds  burdened  the  Society  to  which  they 
belonged,  and  burdened  still  more  the  consciences  of  Hudson 
Taylor  and  his  companions.  For  some  time  he  had  been 
corresponding  with  the  secretaries  on  the  subject,  feeling 
that,  unless  a  change  could  be  made  in  the  home-manage- 
ment, he  would  be  obliged  to  withdraw  from  the  service  of 
the  Society.  This  he  was  most  reluctant  to  do,  although 
the  term  of  years  agreed  upon  in  his  engagement  had 
expired.  He  had  even  suggested  that  remittances  should 
only  be  sent  when  there  was  money  in  hand,  as  he  would 
far  rather  look  to  the  Lord  directly  for  supplies  than  draw 
upon  borrowed  money.  But  it  seemed  as  though  the 
Committee  could  not  see  anything  wrong  in  their  position, 
and  for  this  reason  especially  he  was  much  exercised  about 
continuing  his  connection  with  them. 

Not  that  he  wished  then  or  at  any  time  to  be  "a  free 
lance,"  independent  of  the  support  and  control  of  others. 
But  as  he  considered  the  practical  working  of  things  on  the 

1  One  little  orphan,  Tien-hsi,  adopted  as  a  result  of  this  work,  grew  up 
to  be  a  valued  helper  at  Shao-hing,  and  one  of  the  first  native  preachers  in 
connection  with  the  China  Inland  Mission. 


420  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

field,  it  was  hard  to  see  in  what  connection  he  could  labour, 
seeing  he  was  unordained  and  without  a  medical  degree. 

"  I  am  not  sanguine  as  to  any  other  Society  taking  me," 
he  wrote  to  his  mother  early  in  the  spring  :  "  but,  as  always, 
the  Lord  will  provide." 

It  was  in  more  personal  matters,  however,  that  the  young 
missionary  was  specially  cast  upon  God,  through  his  deep 
and  growing  love  for  the  one  who  he  still  felt  could  never 
be  his.  He  had  thought,  he  had  in  a  sense  hoped,  that 
absence  would  enable  him  to  forget ;  that  his  love  for  her 
would  be  more  under  control  when  she  was  out  of  sight. 
And  now  quite  the  reverse  was  the  case.  Silently  but 
steadily  it  gained  a  stronger  hold  upon  his  inmost  being. 
He  had  loved  before  in  a  more  or  less  boyish  way  ;  but 
this  was  different.  A  light  beyond  the  brightness  of  the 
sun  had  risen  upon  him.  It  flooded  all  his  being.  Every- 
thing he  thought,  felt,  and  did  seemed  permeated  with  the 
sense  of  that  other  life — so  much  a  part  of  his  own.  He 
could  not  separate  himself  in  thought  from  her  ;  and  when 
he  was  most  consciously  near  to  God,  he  felt  the  communion 
of  her  spirit,  the  longing  for  her  presence  most. 

In  everything  she  satisfied  his  mind  and  heart ;  not 
only  embodying  his  ideal  of  womanly  sweetness,  but  being 
herself  devoted  to  the  work  to  which  his  life  was  given. 
As  one  who  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough  dared  not 
look  back,  he  could  rest  in  the  assurance  that  she  would 
help  and  not  hinder  him  in  his  special  service.  And  yet 
the  old  question  remained  :  How  could  he  marry— with 
such  prospects,  such  a  future  ?  And,  if  anything,  more 
serious  still — what  would  she  say  to  it  all  ? 

Of  her  thoughts  and  feelings  about  him,  if  she  had  any, 
he  knew  nothing.  She  had  always  been  kind  and  pleasant, 
but  that  she  was  to  every  one,  with  a  sweetness  of  spirit 
that  was  unfailing.  Apparently  she  did  not  wish  to  marry. 
Far  more  eligible  men  than  he  had  failed  to  win  her  !  What 
chance  then  could  there  be  for  one  so  poor  and  insignificant  ? 

If  any  one  had  known,  if  there  had  been  any  one  with 
whom  he  could  have  shared  the  hopes  and  fears  within  him. 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    421 

those  first  months  in  Shanghai  would  have  been  easier  to 
bear  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  March,  and  through 
most  unexpected  circumstances,  that  the  friends  with 
whom  he  was  living  began  to  perceive  the  trouble  of  his 
heart.  They  had  loved  him  from  the  first,  and  had  been 
drawn  very  closely  to  him  through  their  Shanghai  ex- 
periences, but  it  was  not  until  Mrs.  Jones  contracted  small- 
pox among  the  people  she  was  seeking  to  relieve,  and  had 
to  hand  over  the  care  of  household  and  children  to  their 
young  fellow-worker,  that  they  fully  realised  what  he  was. 
Devoted  in  his  care  of  the  little  ones,  he  earned  the  parents' 
deepest  gratitude,  and  in  the  weeks  of  convalescence  that 
followed  they  were  so  united  in  prayer  and  sympathy  that 
— how  he  could  not  tell — the  love  he  had  meant  to  hide 
was  a  secret  no  longer  from  his  nearest  friends. 

And  then  he  was  even  more  surprised  at  the  satisfaction 
they  expressed.  Far  from  discouraging  him,  they  were  full 
of  thankfulness  to  God.  Never  had  they  seen  two  people 
more  suited  to  each  other  !  As  to  the  outcome — his  duty 
was  perfectly  clear  :  the  rest  must  be  left  with  Him  to 
whom  both  their  lives  were  given. 

So  the  question  was  committed  to  writing  that  had  been 
burning  in  his  heart  for  months.  Mr.  Gough  was  just 
returning  to  Ning-po,  and  kindly  undertook  to  place  the 
letter  in  the  right  hands.  And  then  Hudson  Taylor  could 
only  wait — a  week,  ten  days,  two  weeks,  how  long  it  seemed  ! 
— until  the  answer  came. 

But  little  was  he  prepared,  in  spite  of  all  the  prayer  there 
had  been  about  it,  for  the  tone  and  purport  of  this  com- 
munication. It  was  her  writing  surely ;  the  clear,  pretty 
hand  he  knew  so  well.  But  could  it,  could  it  be  her  spirit  ? 
Brief  and  unsympathetic,  the  note  simply  said  that  what 
he  desired  was  wholly  impossible,  and  requested  him  if  he 
had  any  gentlemanly  feeling  to  refrain  from  ever  troubling 
the  writer  again  upon  the  subject. 

Could  he  have  known  the  anguish  with  which  those  words 
had  been  penned  his  own  trouble  would  have  been  con- 
siderably lessened.  But  the  one  he  loved  was  far  away. 
He  could  not  see  her,  dared  not  write  again  after  such  a 


422  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

request,  and  had  no  clue  to  the  painful  situation.  Then  it 
was  that  the  tender,  unspoken  sympathy  of  his  friends, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones,  became  so  great  a  solace.  He  could 
hardly  have  borne  it  without  them,  and  yet  the  sight  of 
their  mutual  happiness  reminded  him  constantly  of  the 
blessing  he  had  lost. 

Meanwhile,  far  away  in  Ning-po,  that  other  heart  was 
even  more  desolate  and  perplexed.  For  the  love  that  had 
come  to  Hudson  Taylor  was  no  mistaken  infatuation  :  it 
was  the  real  thing,  given  of  God.  Impossible  as  he  would 
have  felt  it,  it  was  a  love  whole-heartedly  returned  on  the 
part  of  the  one  who  had  always  seemed  so  far  above  him. 
Maria  Dyer's  was  a  deep  and  tender  nature.  Lonely  from 
her  childhood,  she  had  grown  up  longing  for  a  real  heart- 
friend.  Her  father  she  could  hardly  remember,  and  from 
the  mother  whom  she  devotedly  loved  she  was  parted  by 
death  at  ten  years  of  age,  just  as  she  and  her  brother  and 
sister  were  leaving  Penang  to  complete  their  education. 
After  this  the  doubly-orphaned  children  had  been  brought 
up  under  the  care  of  an  uncle  in  London,  most  of  their  time 
being  spent  at  school. 

Then  came  the  call  to  China,  through  Miss  Aldersey's 
need  of  a  helper  in  her  Ning-po  school.  In  offering  for  this 
post  the  sisters  were  influenced  not  so  much  by  a  desire  to 
take  up  missionary  work  as  by  the  knowledge  that  it  was 
what  their  parents  would  have  desired.  Young  as  they 
were  they  had  had  some  training  as  teachers  (after  several 
years  in  the  Friends'  School  at  Darlington),  and,  as  they  were 
self-supporting  and  did  not  wish  to  be  separated,  Miss 
Aldersey  invited  both  to  join  her  instead  of  only  one. 

To  the  younger  sister  the  voyage  to  China  was  memor- 
able as  the  time  of  her  definite  entrance  into  peace  with 
God.  Previously  she  had  striven  to  be  a  Christian  in  her 
own  strength,  feeling  all  the  while  that  she  lacked  the 
"  one  thing  needful  "  and  seeking  vainly  to  obtain  it.  Now 
her  thoughts  were  turned  to  Christ  and  His  atoning  work 
as  the  only  ground  of  pardon  and  acceptance  ;  the  all- 
sufficient  ground  to  which  our  prayers  and  efforts  can  add 
nothing  at  all.     Gradually  it  dawned  upon  her  that  she 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    423 

was  redeemed,  pardoned,  cleansed  from  sin,  because  He  had 
suffered  in  her  stead.  God  had  accepted  Christ  as  her 
substitute  and  Saviour,  and  she  could  do  no  less.  Simply 
and  trustfully  as  a  little  child  she  turned  away  from  every- 
thing and  every  one  else,  content  to  take  God  at  His  word. 
"  There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  which 
are  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  to  prove  that  "  The  Spirit  Himself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  "  here  and  now 
"  children  of  God."  ^ 

This  true  conversion  with  all  that  flowed  from  it  made 
her  entrance  upon  missionary  work  very  different  from 
what  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  No  longer  a  philan- 
thropic undertaking  to  which  she  devoted  herself  out  of 
regard  for  her  parents'  wishes,  it  had  become  the  natural 
and  even  necessary  expression  of  her  great  and  growing 
love  to  Him  who  was  her  Saviour,  Lord  and  King.  He 
had  changed  everything  for  her,  for  time  and  for  eternity,  and 
the  least  she  could  do  was  to  give  herself  entirely  to  His 
service.  So  with  a  peace  and  joy  unknown  before  she  took 
up  her  busy  and  often  difficult  life  in  Miss  Aldersey's  school. 

It  was  a  lonely  post  for  a  girl  in  her  teens,  and  especially 
one  of  so  thoughtful  and  loving  a  spirit.  Her  sister's  com- 
panionship no  doubt  was  precious,  and  the  missionary  circle 
in  Ning-po  gave  her  several  attached  friends.  But  her  heart 
had  never  found  its  mate  in  the  things  that  mattered  most. 

And  then  he  came — the  young  missionary  who  impressed 
her  from  the  first  as  having  the  same  longings  after  holiness, 
usefulness,  nearness  to  God.  He  was  different  from  every- 
body else  ;  not  more  gifted  or  attractive,  though  he  was 
bright  and  pleasing  and  full  of  quiet  fun  ;  but  there  was  a 
something  that  made  her  feel  at  rest  and  understood.  He 
seemed  to  live  in  such  a  real  world  and  to  have  such  a  real, 
great  God.  Though  she  saw  little  of  him  it  was  a  comfort 
to  know  that  he  was  near,  and  she  was  startled  to  find  how 
much  she  missed  him  when  after  only  seven  weeks  he  went 
away.'^ 

1  See  Romans  viii.  i,  i6  ;  and  indeed  the  whole  chapter. 

2  In  the  previous  October,  when  he  had  left  Ning-po  to  return,  as  he 
hoped,  to  Mr.  Bums. 


424  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Very  real  was  her  joy,  therefore,  as  well  as  surprise,  when 
from  Shanghai  he  had  to  turn  back  again.  Perhaps  it  was 
this  that  opened  her  eyes  to  the  feeling  with  which  she  was 
beginning  to  regard  him.  At  any  rate,  she  soon  knew, 
and  with  her  sweet,  true  nature  did  not  try  to  hide  it  from 
her  own  heart  and  God.  There  was  no  one  else  to  whom 
she  cared  to  speak  about  him  ;  for  others  did  not  see  in 
him,  always,  just  what  she  saw.  They  disliked  his  wearing 
Chinese  dress,  and  did  not  approve  his  making  himself  so 
entirely  one  with  the  people.  His  Chinese  dress — how  she 
loved  it  !  or  what  it  represented,  rather,  of  his  spirit.  His 
poverty  and  generous  giving  to  the  poor — how  well  she 
understood,  how  much  she  sympathised !  Did  others 
think  him  visionary  in  his  longing  to  reach  the  great  Beyond 
of  untouched  need  ?  Why,  that  was  just  the  burden  on 
her  heart,  the  life  she  too  would  live,  only  for  a  woman  it 
seemed  if  anything  more  impossible.  So  she  prayed  much 
about  her  friend  though  to  him  she  showed  but  little. 
For  the  love  of  her  life  had  come  to  her,  and  nobody  knew 
but  God. 

And  then  he  went  again,  went  in  the  interests  of  others, 
and  she  did  not  know  it  cost  him  anything  to  leave  her. 
But  all  the  while  he  was  away  she  prayed  to  be  more  like 
him,  more  worthy  of  his  love,  if  that  should  ever  be  hers. 

Month  after  month  went  by,  and  then,  at  last — a  letter ! 
Sudden  as  was  the  joy,  the  great  and  .wonderful  joy,  it  was 
no  surprise,  only  a  quiet  outshining  of  what  had  long  shone 
within.  So  she  was  not  mistaken  after  all.  They  were 
for  one  another  ;  "  two  whom  God  hath  chosen  to  walk 
together  before  Him." 

When  she  could  break  away  from  her  first  glad  thanks- 
givings she  went  to  find  her  sister,  who  was  most  sympathetic. 
The  next  thing  was  to  tell  Miss  Aldersey,  then  living  on  the 
north  side  of  the  city  with  her  former  ward  and  fellow- 
worker,  Mrs.  Russell.  Eagerly  the  sisters  told  their  tidings, 
hoping  she  would  approve  this  engagement  as  she  had 
Burella's.  But  great  was  the  indignation  with  which  she 
heard  the  story. 

"  Mr.  Taylor  !    that  young,  poor,  unconnected  Nobody. 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    425 

How  dare  he  presume  to  think  of  such  a  thing  ?     Of  course 
the  proposal  must  be  refused  at  once,  and  that  finally." 

In  vain  Maria  tried  to  explain  how  much  he  was  to  her. 
That  only  made  matters  worse.  She  must  be  saved  without 
delay  from  such  folly.  And  her  kind  friend  proceeded, 
with  the  best  intentions,  to  take  the  matter  entirely  into 
her  own  hands.  The  result  was  a  letter  written  almost 
at  Miss  Aldersey's  dictation,  not  only  closing  the  whole 
affair  but  requesting  most  decidedly  that  it  might  never  be 
reopened. 

Bewildered  and  heartbroken,  the  poor  girl  had  no  choice. 
She  was  too  young  and  inexperienced,  and  far  too  shy  in 
such  matters,  to  withstand  the  decision  of  Miss  Aldersey, 
strongly  reinforced  by  the  friends  with  whom  she  was 
staying.  Stung  to  the  quick  with  grief  and  shame,  she  could 
only  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  her  Heavenly  Father.  He 
knew  ;  He  understood.  And  in  the  long,  lonely  days  that 
followed,  when  even  her  sister  was  won  over  to  Miss  Aldersey's 
position,  she  took  refuge  in  the  certainty  that  nothing, 
nothing  was  too  hard  for  the  Lord.  "  H  He  has  to  slay  my 
Isaac,"  she  assured  herself  again  and  again,  "  I  know  He 
can  restore." 

To  Hudson  Taylor  in  his  sorrow,  sympathising  hearts 
were  open,  but  for  her  there  was  none.  And  she  did  not 
know  that  he  would  ever  cross  her  path  again.  After  such 
a  refusal,  if  he  really  cared,  he  would  surely  stay  away  from 
Ning-po,  especially  in  view  of  the  recommencement  of  work 
at  Swatow  which  she  knew  he  longed  to  share.  Nothing 
was  more  probable  now  than  that  he  would  return  to  his 
friend  Mr.  Burns.  And  this,  no  doubt,  he  would  have  done 
had  he  been  acting  on  impulse  and  not  holding  stedfastly 
to  the  guidance  of  God.  As  it  was,  though  he  knew  nothing 
of  her  feelings  and  had  little  if  any  hope  of  a  more  favourable 
issue,  he  was  winning  in  the  depths  of  his  sorrow  just  the 
blessing  it  was  meant  to  bring. 

"  We  have  need  of  patience/'  he  wrote  to  his  sister  in  May,  "  and 
our  faithful  God  brings  us  into  experiences  which,  improved  by  His 
blessing,  may  cultivate  in  us  this  grace.  Though  we  seem  to  be  tried 
at  times  almost  beyond  endurance,  we  never  find  Plim  unable  or  un- 


426  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

willing  to  help  and  sustain  us  ;  and  were  our  hearts  entirely  submissive 
to  His  will,  desiring  it  and  it  only  to  be  done,  how  much  fewer  and 
lighter  would  our  afflictions  seem. 

"  I  have  been  in  much  sorrow  of  late  ;  but  the  principal  cause  I  find 
to  be  want  of  willing  submission  to,  and  trustful  repose  in,  God,  my 
Strength.  Oh,  to  desire  His  v/ill  to  be  done  with  my  whole  heart  .  .  . 
to  seek  His  glory  with  a  single  eye  !  Oh,  to  realise  more  of  the  fulness 
of  our  precious  Jesus,  ...  to  live  more  in  the  light  of  His  countenance; 
to  be  satisfied  with  what  He  bestows,  .  .  .  ever  looking  to  Him, 
following  in  His  footsteps  and  awaiting  His  glorious  coming  !  Why 
do  we  love  Him  so  little  ?  It  is  not  that  He  is  not  lovely.  '  Fairer 
than  the  children  of  men  !  '  It  is  not  that  He  does  not  love  us  :  .  .  . 
that  was  for  ever  proved  on  Calvary.  Oh,  to  be  sick  of  love  for  Jesus, 
to  be  daily,  hourly  longing,  hungering,  thirsting  for  His  presence  !  .  .  . 
May  you  find  your  love  to  Him  ever  increasing,  and  His  likeness  in 
you  be  apparent  to  all.  .  .  .  Continue  to  pray  for  me  .  .  .  that  God 
will  supply  all  my  need,  Jesus  be  all  my  delight,  His  service  all  my 
desire,  rest  with  Him  all  my  hope." 

It  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  one  book  in  the  Bible, 
that  had  never  meant  much  to  him  before,  should  have 
opened  up  at  this  time  in  undreamed-of  beauty.  His  deep 
understanding  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  seems  to  have  begun 
in  these  days,  when  the  love  that  welled  up  so  irresistibly 
within  him  could  only  be  given  to  God.  Never  had  he 
understood  before  what  the  Lord  can  be  to  His  people,  and 
what  He  longs  to  find  in  His  people  toward  Himself.  It 
was  a  wonderful  discovery,  and  one  that  only  grew  with 
all  the  glad  fruition  that  lay  beyond  this  pain.  To  those 
who  knew  Hudson  Taylor  best  in  later  years,  nothing  was 
more  characteristic  than  his  love  for  the  Song  of  Solomon 
and  the  way  in  which  it  expressed  his  personal  relationship 
to  the  Lord.^  Here  is  the  beginning  of  it  all,  culled 
from  letters  to  his  mother  and  sister  in  that  sad  spring  of 
1857- 

My  dear  Amelia,  it  is  very  late,  but  I  cannot  retire  without  penning 
a  few  lines  to  you.  All  below  is  transitory  ;  we  know  not  what  a  day 
or  an  hour  may  bring  forth.  .  .  .  One  thing  only  changes  not — the 
love  of  God.  Our  precious  Jesus  is  the  same  and  ever  will  be,  and 
soon  He  will  come  and  take  us  to  Himself. 

*  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor's  Bible  Readings  on  the  Song  of  Solomon  are 
published  under  the  title  Union  and  Communion. 


BY  A  WAY  THAT  THEY  KNEW  NOT    427 

What  will  it  be  to  see  Him  with  unclouded  vision,  and  be  ravished 
with  His  transcendent  loveliness  ?  .  .  .  And  not  only  shall  we  be 
with  Him  ;  we  shall  be  His.  "  My  Beloved  is  mine  and  I  am  His  "  is 
true  for  us  even  now.  But  then  He  will  share  with  us  not  only  His 
power  and  glory,  but  the  very  beauty  of  His  character  and  person. 
When  we  see  Him  "  we  shall  be  like  Him  ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He 
is."  Precious  Jesus,  oh,  to  be  more  like  Thee  now  !  to  manifest  Thy 
grace  as  Thou  didst  the  Father's. 

Have  you  thought  much  about  the  Song  of  Solomon  ?  It  is  a  rich 
garden  to  delight  in,  and  so  is  the  forty-fifth  Psalm.  To  think  that 
even  the  sweetest,  dearest  of  earthly  ties  but  faintly  shadows  forth 
the  love  of  Jesus  to  His  redeemed  ...  to  me  ...  is  it  not  wonder- 
ful ?..  .  Oh,  how  can  we  love  our  precious  Jesus  enough,  how  do 
enough  for  Him  !  .  .  .  Soon  will  He  call  us  to  a  wedding-feast,  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.  Not  as  guests,  but  as  the  bride  shall  we 
take  our  place  with  joy,  arrayed  in  the  spotless  robe  of  His  righteous- 
ness. The  time  is  short.  May  we  live  as  those  who  wait  for  their 
Lord,  and  be  ready  with  joy  to  meet  Him. 

And  again,  in  connection  with  the  happiness  of  her 
engagement  to  Mr.  Broomhall : 

These  feelings  are  implanted  by  God  Himself,  and  all  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  them  are  ordained  or  permitted  by  Him  for  our 
highest  spiritual  good  as  well  as  temporal  happiness.  ...  In  nearly 
every  book  in  the  Bible  they  are  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  illustrate  the 
relationship  between  God  and  His  people,  and  very  specially  do  they 
belong  to  those  who  have  been  "  espoused  ...  as  a  chaste  virgin  to 
Christ."  With  the  love  with  which  you  love  your  husband  (in  fact  or  in 
anticipation)  you  are  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus,  nay,  more.  Are  you  lonely 
when  he  leaves  you  ?  So  you  should  be  while  Jesus  is  absent.  Do  you 
long  for  the  time  when  you  can  always  be  together  ?  So  you  should 
for  the  return  of  Jesus  to  take  you  to  Himself.  Is  service  for  your 
loved  one  freedom?  ''No,"  you  will  say,  "that  is  far  too  cold  a  word. 
Freedom  !  It  is  joy,  delight,  the  desire  of  my  heart."  So  should  you 
serve  Jesus.  Would  you  do  what  you  could  to  remove  the  obstacles 
and  hasten  the  day  of  your  union  ?  Then  look  for  and  hasten  the 
day  of  His  return.  ...  See  Jesus  in  everything,  then  in  everything 
you  will  find  blessing.  Keep  looking  to  Jesus.  Do  nothing  but  for 
Him,  but  as  in  Him  and  by  His  strength  and  direction.  Christ  all 
and  in  all  !  And  oh  !  may  He  abundantly  and  personally  manifest 
Himself  to  you." 

God's  plans  ever  go  forward,  though  to  us  they  may  appear  at  times 
to  retrograde.  That  is  due  to  our  imperfect  point  of  view.  May  we 
ever  grow  in  grace,  and  be  made  vessels  such  as  our  Master  can  use. 


428  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

.  .  .  We  have  our  portion — the  "  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,"  and 
the  "  altogether  lovely." 

All  that  my  soul  has  tried 
Left  but  an  aching  void  ; 
Jesus  has  satisfied. 

Jesus  is  mine. 

May  we  daily  see  more  of  Him,  daily  see  more  in  Him.  .  .  . 

I  have  been  much  tried  of  late.  Seeking  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God,  I  do  nothing  that  is  not  mixed  with  self  and  sin.  Oh,  how  fit 
is  our  Jesus  for  us  !  perfect  righteousness  for  ruined  sinners,  a  glorious 
robe  for  the  tattered  and  filthy,  gold,  fine  gold  for  the  poor,  sight  for 
the  blind — all,  all  we  need  or  could  desire.  Precious  Jesus  !  may  we 
love  Thee  more,  and  more  manifest  our  love  by  deadness  to  the  world. 
Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE   GOD   THAT   IS   ENOUGH 

May-September   1857.     Aet.  25. 

Winter  was  over,  summer  was  drawing  on,  and  with  the 
first  hot  days  came  a  change  in  the  conditions  that  had 
detained  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleagues  in  Shanghai. 
For  one  thing  the  famine  refugees  began  to  disappear. 
Spring  harvests  drew  them  back  to  country  villages  all 
over  the  plain,  and  for  the  few  who  could  not  leave  a  local 
missionary  undertook  to  care. 

Then,  a  lull  in  the  war  with  England  made  aggressive 
work  in  Ning-po  and  the  neighbourhood  more  possible  ;  and 
though  the  house  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  had  previously  occupied 
was  no  longer  available,  other  and  even  better  premises  were. 
The  retirement  of  Mr.  Cobbold  for  health  reasons  had  left 
one  of  the  C.M.S.  buildings  vacant,  and  this  Mr.  Jones 
was  able  to  rent  for  a  moderate  sum.  Dr.  Parker  also  was 
glad  to  hand  over  the  entire  premises  on  Bridge  Street 
part  of  which  Hudson  Taylor  had  formerly  occupied.  Thus 
without  any  effort  on  their  part  they  were  provided  with  a 
dweUing-house  and  a  street-chapel  in  the  busiest  parts  of 
the  city. 

With  growing  experience  Hudson  Taylor  was  increasingly 
drawn,  it  should  be  said,  to  the  more  settled  forms  of 
missionary  work.  The  war  with  England  made  it  out  of 
the  question  to  attempt  to  live  at  any  distance  from  the 
Treaty  Ports.  Itinerations  were  still  possible,  but  speaking 
generally  the  interior  was  more  inaccessible  than  ever. 
BeHeving,  however,  that  the  time  was  near  for  a  change  in 

429 


430  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

this  respect,  Mr.  Taylor  and  his  colleague  realised  the 
importance  of  labouring  in  some  one,  settled  spot,  until  a 
native  church  could  be  raised  up  that  should  afford  them, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  pastors  and  evangelists  for  the  wider 
opportunity  of  coming  days. 

With  this  hope  in  view,  therefore,  they  turned  their  faces 
to  Ning-po  again,  but  not  before  they  had  taken  a  step  of 
great  importance  in  its  bearing  on  the  future. 

For  it  was  in  the  month  of  May,  three  years  and  three 
months  after  his  arrival  in  China,  that  Hudson  Taylor  felt 
the  time  had  come  to  resign  his  connection  with  the  Chinese 
Evangelisation  Society.  Not  all  the  difficulties  under 
which  he  had  laboured  would  have  led  him  to  this  step. 
He  loved  the  Secretaries  and  many  members  of  the  Committee 
known  to  him  personally,  and  valued  their  sympathy  and 
prayers.  But  the  Society,  as  we  have  seen,  took  a  very 
different  position  from  his  own  in  the  matter  of  debt,  a 
position  in  which  he  felt  he  could  no  longer  participate. 

"  Personally,"  he  wrote  in  recalling  the  circumstances,  "  I  had 
always  avoided  debt,  and  kept  within  my  salary,  though  at  times  only 
by  very  careful  economy.  Now  there  was  no  difficulty  in  doing  this, 
for  my  income  was  larger,  and  the  country  being  in  a  more  peaceful 
state,  things  were  not  so  dear.  But  the  Society  itself  was  in  debt. 
The  quarterly  bills  which  I  and  others  were  instructed  to  draw  were 
often  met  with  borrowed  money,  and  a  correspondence  commenced 
which  terminated  in  the  following  year  by  my  resigning  from  con- 
scientious motives. 

"Tome  it  seemed  that  the  teaching  of  God's  Word  was  unmistakably 
clear  :  '  Owe  no  man  anything.'  To  borrow  money  implied,  to  my 
mind,  a  contradiction  of  Scripture — a  confession  that  God  had  with- 
held some  good  thing,  and  a  determination  to  get  for  ourselves  what 
He  had  not  given.  Could  that  which  was  wrong  for  one  Christian  to 
do  be  right  for  an  association  of  Christians  ?  Or  could  any  amount 
of  precedents  make  a  wrong  course  justifiable  ?  If  the  Word  taught 
me  anything,  it  taught  me  to  have  no  connection  with  debt.  I  could 
not  think  that  God  was  poor,  that  He  was  short  of  resources,  or  un- 
willing to  supply  any  want  of  whatever  work  was  really  His.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  if  there  were  lack  of  funds  to  carry  on  work,  then 
to  that  degree,  in  that  special  development,  or  at  that  time,  it  could 
not  be  the  work  of  God.  To  satisfy  my  conscience  I  was  therefore 
compelled  to  resign  my  connection  with  the  Society.  .  .  . 


THE  GOD  THAT  IS  ENOUGH  431 

"It  was  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  that  my  friend  and  colleague,  Mr. 
Jones,  .  .  .  was  led  to  take  the  same  step,  and  we  were  both  profoundly 
thankful  that  the  separation  took  place  without  the  least  breach  of 
friendly  feeling  on  either  side.  Indeed,  we  had  the  joy  of  knowing 
that  the  step  we  took  commended  itself  to  several  members  of  the 
Committee,  although  the  Society  as  a  whole  could  not  come  to  our 
position.  Depending  on  God  alone  for  supplies,  we  were  enabled 
to  continue  a  measure  of  connection  with  our  former  supporters, 
sending  home  journals,  etc.,  for  publication  as  before,  so  long  as  the 
Society  continued  to  exist. 

"The  step  we  had  taken  was  not  a  little  trying  to  faith.  I  was  not 
at  all  sure  what  God  would  have  me  do,  or  whether  He  would  so  meet 
my  need  as  to  enable  me  to  continue  working  as  before.  ...  I  was 
willing  to  give  up  all  my  time  to  the  service  of  evangelisation  among 
the  heathen  if,  by  any  means,  He  would  supply  the  smallest  amount 
on  which  I  could  hve  ;  and  if  He  were  not  pleased  to  do  this,  I  was 
prepared  to  undertake  whatever  work  might  be  necessary  to  support 
myself,  giving  all  the  time  that  could  be  spared  from  such  a  calling 
to  more  distinctly  missionary  efforts. 

"  But  God  blessed  and  prospered  me,  and  how  glad  and  thankful  I 
felt  when  the  separation  was  really  effected  !  I  could  look  right  up 
into  my  Father's  face  with  a  satisfied  heart,  ready  by  His  grace  to 
do  the  next  thing  as  He  might  teach  me,  and  feeling  very  sure  of  His 
loving  care. 

"And  how  blessedly  He  did  lead  me  I  can  never,  never  tell.  It  was 
like  a  continuation  of  some  of  my  earlier  experiences  at  home.  My 
faith  was  not  untried  ;  it  often,  often  failed,  and  I  was  so  sorry  and 
ashamed  of  the  failure  to  trust  such  a  Father.  But  oh  !  I  was  learning 
to  know  Him.  I  would  not  even  then  have  missed  the  trial.  He 
became  so  near,  so  real,  so  intimate.  The  occasional  difficulty  about 
funds  never  came  from  an  insufficient  supply  for  personal  needs,  but 
in  consequence  of  ministering  to  the  wants  of  scores  of  the  hungry 
and  dying  around  us.  And  trials  far  more  searching  in  other  ways 
quite  eclipsed  these  difficulties,  and  being  deeper  brought  forth  in 
consequence  richer  fruits.  How  glad  one  is  now  not  only  to  know, 
with  dear  Miss  Havergal,  that 

They  who  trust  Him  wholly 
Find  Him  wholly  true, 

but  also  that  when  we  fail  to  trust  fully  He  still  remains  unchangingly 
faithful.  He  is  wholly  true  whether  we  trust  or  not.  "  If  we  believe 
not.  He  abideth  faithful ;  He  cannot  deny  Himself."  But  oh,  how 
we  dishonour  our  Lord  whenever  we  fail  to  trust  Him,  and  what  peace, 
blessing  and  triumph  we  lose  in  thus  sinning  against  the  Faithful 
One  !     May  we  never  again  presume  in  anything  to  doubt  Him." 


432  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

What  the  more  searching  trials  were  that  brought  forth 
richer  blessing  it  is  not  difficult  at  this  point  to  divine. 
Twice  daily  in  his  walks  to  and  from  Bridge  Street,  Hudson 
Taylor  had  to  pass  very  near  Miss  Aldersey's  School.  Carried 
on  now  by  Mrs.  Bausum  and  her  young  relatives  it  was 
still  the  home  of  the  being  dearest  to  him  on  earth.  He 
had  seen  her  again  since  returning  to  Ning-po  in  June,  but 
a  barrier  had  been  raised  between  them  that  was  hard  to 
pass.  Kind  and  gentle  as  she  still  was,  he  could  not  forget 
that  she  had  charged  him  never  again  to  trouble  her  upon 
a  certain  subject ;  and  Miss  Aldersey  had  so  spoken  her 
mind  to  the  friends  with  whom  he  lived  that  the  position 
was  doubly  trying. 

For  soon  after  their  return  from  Shanghai  Mrs.  Jones  had 
invited  Miss  Dyer  to  go  out  visiting  with  her  as  before. 
There  was  no  one  else  to  whom  she  could  look  for  help, 
and  the  need  was  very  pressing.  Besides  it  was  the  best, 
the  only  way  in  which  the  young  people  could  see  more  of 
each  other.  To  the  girl  herself  she  said  nothing,  nor  did 
Maria  allude  to  the  matter  of  which  their  hearts  were  full. 
But  Miss  Aldersey  knew  no  such  reticence,  and  seeking 
Mrs.  Jones  after  the  Ladies'  Prayer  Meeting,  in  another 
part  of  the  city,  poured  out  the  vials  of  her  wrath.  She 
had  good  reason,  she  felt,  to  be  indignant.  Miss  Dyer 
belonged  to  a  different  social  circle  from  that  of  Mr.  Taylor, 
and  had  a  small  but  reliable  income  of  her  own.  She  was 
educated,  gifted,  attractive,  and  had  no  lack  of  suitors  far 
more  eligible  in  Miss  Aldersey's  eyes.  It  was  unpardonable 
that  this  person  should  presume  upon  her  youth  and 
inexperience,  and  still  more  so  that  he  should  return  to 
Ning-po  after  its  having  been  made  plain  that  he  was  not 
wanted. 

In  the  course  of  such  a  conversation  many  things  come 
out,  and  before  it  ended  Mrs.  Jones  could  see  pretty  clearly 
how  the  land  lay.  Miss  Aldersey's  object  was  to  obtain 
from  her  a  promise  that  she  would  do  nothing  to  forward 
Mr.  Taylor's  suit,  and  that  the  latter  would  never  see  or 
speak  to  Miss  Dyer  in  their  house.  While  not  committing 
herself  as  far  as  this,  Mrs.  Jones  felt  it  desirable  to  state 


I 


THE  GOD  THAT  IS  ENOUGH  433 

that  she  would  refrain  from  throwing  the  young  people 
together,  and  that  Mr.  Taylor  would  not  take  advantage  of 
Miss  Dyer's  visits  to  attempt  to  see  her  alone.  At  the  same 
time  she  earnestly  put  before  Miss  Aldersey  the  other  side 
of  the  matter,  trying  to  make  her  feel  how  serious  a  thing 
it  is  to  tamper  with  such  affections.  But  the  older  lady 
would  hear  no  good  of  Hudson  Taylor,  and  deeply  pained 
by  her  criticisms  Mrs.  Jones  came  away. 

After  this,  of  course,  Hudson  Taylor  felt  himself  bound 
by  Mrs.  Jones'  promise.  He  could  not  write  to  Miss  Dyer 
or  seek  an  interview  in  the  house  of  his  friends  ;  and  yet  as 
the  days  went  by  he  found  it  impossible  to  let  matters 
drift  indefinitely.  Having  learned  that  Miss  Aldersey  was 
not  related  to  the  Dyers  and  was  not  even  their  guardian, 
he  determined  to  call  on  the  sisters  both  together  and  ask 
whether  he  might  write  to  their  uncle  in  London  for  per- 
mission to  cultivate  a  closer  acquaintance.  More  than  this 
he  dared  not  venture  at  present,  nor  was  it  necessary  after 
his  Shanghai  letter. 

Taking  a  sedan-chair,  therefore,  as  the  etiquette  of 
Chinese  dress  demanded,  Hudson  Taylor  went  over  to  the 
school,  only  to  meet  the  young  ladies  going  out.  So  without 
waiting  for  the  ceremony  of  sending  in  his  card,  he  requested 
the  privilege  of  a  few  minutes'  conversation. 

"  Come  in,"  responded  the  elder  sister,  "  and  we  will 
ask  Mrs.  Bausum." 

But  when  Mrs.  Bausum  appeared  he  found  that  both 
girls  had  gone  over  to  see  Miss  Aldersey.  Burella  divining 
the  purpose  of  his  visit  had  insisted  upon  her  sister's  leaving 
the  house  at  once,  and  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  an  open 
rupture  Maria  had  consented. 

It  was  hard  just  then  not  to  look  at  second  causes.  But 
though  everything  and  every  one  seemed  against  him 
Hudson  Taylor  was  enabled  to  leave  it  all  with  God,  confident 
that  He  understood  best  how  to  manage  such  matters.  If 
an  interview  were  necessary  He  could  and  would  bring  it 
about,  and  cause  it,  moreover,  to  accomplish  the  desired 
results.  Personally  there  seemed  nothing  he  could  do. 
But  the  Lord  has  ways  of  working  beyond  our  ken  ;    and 

2  F 


434  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

in  spite  of  everything  he  could  not  help  a  growing  im- 
pression that  his  love  was  returned  and  that,  in  the  way 
he  hoped,  faith  would  be  rewarded. 

Meanwhile  the  trial  through  which  he  was  passing  was 
not  allowed  to  interfere  with  daily  duties.  Situated  on  a 
crowded  thoroughfare  the  house  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  was 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  main  street  of  the  city.  "  By 
day  and  far  into  the  night  the  clink  and  ring  of  smiths'  and 
tinkers'  hammers  close  by  and  the  busy  hum  from  neigh- 
bouring tea-shops  could  be  heard."  The  air  was  close  and 
oppressive,  a  population  of  half  a  million  being  gathered 
within  and  around  the  city  wall.  But  from  a  summer- 
house  on  the  roof  a  refreshing  view  could  be  obtained  of 
the  surrounding  hills,  and  many  an  early  hour  the  young 
missionary  must  have  spent  there  alone  with  God.  For 
he  had  learned  that  only  in  such  communion  could  freshness 
of  spirit  be  maintained  both  for  work  and  burden-bearing. 

Street-chapel  preaching  is  far  from  easy,  and  both  at 
Kuen-kiao-teo  and  in  the  little  house  across  the  city  Hudson 
Taylor  was  carrying  on  daily  services  as  well  as  medical 
work.  Nothing  but  the  attraction  of  the  Lord's  own  love 
and  presence  in  the  speaker's  heart  could  hold  the  changing 
audiences  or  turn  argumentative  conversations  into  blessing. 
But  the  young  missionary  kept  on,  always  patient  and 
pleasant,  always  ready  with  some  helpful  word  or  kindly 
act,  until  the  neighbours  could  not  but  be  impressed  by 
such  a  message  delivered  in  such  a  spirit. 

"  Next  door  to  our  premises  on  Bridge  Street,"  wrote  Mr.  Jones, 
"  there  is  an  opium  den.  The  men  who  keep  it  are  southerners  and 
...  at  first  looked  upon  us  with  little  favour.  But  one  and  another 
dropped  in  to  our  services,  Brother  Taylor  sometimes  addressing  them 
in  their  own  dialect,  until  they  became  quite  friendly.  One  of  them 
who  was  suffering  much  from  his  eyes  was  cured  by  careful  treatment, 
and  now  they  often  shew  us  httle  attentions  of  one  sort  or  another. 
People  also  who  frequent  their  house  are  constant  in  attendance  at 
our  meetings,  and  one  at  any  rate  has  a  good  understanding  of  the 
Gospel." 

Thus  the  Friend  of  publicans  and  sinners  was  able  to 


THE  GOD  THAT  IS  ENOUGH  435 

come  very  near  even  to  these  poor,  unhappy  opium-smokers, 
through  a  Hfe  made  attractive  by  much  fellowship  with 
Him. 

The  evening  meeting  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  was  perhaps  the 
most  important  of  the  day's  proceedings.  People  were  more 
wiUing  to  come  out  after  the  sun  went  down,  and  the  big 
bell  soon  filled  the  hall  with  an  audience  willing  to  listen 
for  an  hour  or  two.  All  this,  of  course,  meant  hard  work 
for  the  young  missionary  on  whom  most  of  the  speaking 
devolved.  It  was  his  fourth  hot  season,  and  one's  powers 
of  resistance  seem  to  lessen  with  each  succeeding  summer. 
But  not  the  intense  heat  nor  yet  the  work  kept  up  with 
unremitting  vigour  were  the  chief  strain  upon  Hudson 
Taylor.  The  trial  of  suspense  meant  more,  far  more,  in- 
volving as  it  did  the  dearest  hopes  of  his  heart. 

But  in  this  also  he  was  wonderfully  sustained.  The 
matter  had  been  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  God,  and 
though  Hudson  Taylor  had  no  means  of  communicating 
with  the  one  he  loved  it  was  not  difficult  for  the  Lord  to 
bring  them  together.  He  who  can  use  ravens,  if  need  be, 
or  angels  to  do  His  bidding  was  answering  His  children's 
prayers,  and  on  this  occasion  He  seems  to  have  employed 
a  waterspout  ! 

It  was  a  sultry  afternoon  in  July,  shortly  after  Hudson 
Taylor's  unsuccessful  visit  to  the  school,  when  in  regular 
rotation  the  Ladies'  Prayer  Meeting  came  to  be  held  at 
Kucn-kiao-teo.  The  usual  number  gathered,  representing 
all  the  Societies,  but  as  the  sequel  proved  it  was  easier  to 
come  to  the  meeting  that  day  than  to  get  away.  For  with 
scarcely  any  warning  a  waterspout,  sweeping  up  the  tidal 
river,  broke  over  Ning-po  in  a  perfect  deluge,  followed  by 
torrents  of  rain.  Mr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Taylor  were  over  at 
Bridge  Street  as  usual,  and  on  account  of  the  flooded  streets 
were  late  in  reaching  home.  Most  of  the  ladies  had  left 
before  they  returned,  but  a  servant  from  the  school  was 
there  who  said  that  Mrs.  Bausum  and  Miss  Maria  Dyer 
were  still  waiting  for  sedan-chairs. 

"  Go  into  my  study,"  said  Mr.  Jones,  to  his  companion, 
"  and  I  will  see  if  an  interview  can  be  arranged," 


436  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

It  was  not  long  before  he  returned  saying  that  the  ladies 
were  alone  with  Mrs.  Jones  and  that  they  would  be  glad  of 
a  little  conversation. 

Hardly  knowing  what  he  did  Hudson  Taylor  went 
upstairs,  and  found  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  one  being 
he  supremely  loved.  True  others  were  there  too,  but  he 
hardly  saw  them,  hardly  saw  anything  but  her  face,  as  he 
told  much  more  than  he  would  have  ever  thought  possible — 
in  public.  He  had  only  meant  to  ask  if  he  might  write  to 
her  guardian  for  permission.  .  .  .  But  now  it  all  came  out  ; 

he  could  not  help  it !     And  she  ? Well,  there  was  no 

one  present  but  friends  who  loved  them  and  understood, 
and  it  might  be  so  long  before  they  could  meet  again  !  Yes, 
she  consented,  and  did  much  more  than  that.  With  her 
true  woman's  heart  she  relieved  all  his  fears,  as  far  as  they 
could  be  relieved  by  knowing  that  he  was  just  as  dear  to 
her  as  she  to  him.  And  if  the  others  heard — were  there  not 
angels  too  ?  And  presently  Hudson  Taylor  relieved  the 
situation  by  saying  : 

"  Let  us  take  it  all  to  the  Lord  in  prayer." 

So  the  letter  was  written  about  the  middle  of  July  upon 
which  so  much  depended,  and  they  had  to  look  forward  to 
four  long  months  of  prayer  and  patience  before  the  answer 
could  be  received.  Under  the  circumstances  they  did  not 
feel  free  to  see  one  another  or  even  communicate  in  writing, 
for  they  had  as  far  as  possible  to  mitigate  Miss  Aldersey's 
displeasure.  Maria  of  course  informed  her  that  Mr.  Taylor 
had  written  to  her  uncle  asking  permission  for  a  definite 
engagement.  That  matters  should  have  come  to  such  a 
pass  in  spite  of  all  her  precautions  seemed  incredible  to  the 
older  lady.  But  they  should  proceed  no  farther.  She 
would  at  once  communicate  with  Mr.  Tarn  herself,  and  he 
of  course  would  see  the  impropriety  of  the  request.  So 
with  the  keenest  desire  for  her  young  friend's  happiness  she 
set  to  work  to  bring  the  distant  relatives  to  her  own  point 
of  view. 

This  of  course  made  it  very  hard  for  the  lovers,  especially 
as   Miss   Aldersey  observed  no   reticence   on   the  subject. 


THE  GOD  THAT  IS  ENOUGH  437 

Impressions  she  had  gained  about  Hudson  Taylor,  happily 
as  unfounded  as  they  were  unfavourable,  were  soon  made 
known  to  the  rest  of  the  community.  Her  object  was  to 
alienate  the  affections  of  Miss  Dyer  from  one  whom  she  con- 
sidered unworthy  of  her,  and  she  did  not  hesitate  to  encourage 
the  attentions  of  other  suitors  with  the  same  end  in  view. 
The  Chinese  dress  worn  by  Hudson  Taylor  was  one 
strong  point  against  him,  and  seemingly  awakened  not 
aversion  only,  but  contempt.  His  position  also  as  an 
independent  worker,  upon  the  uncertain  basis  of  "  faith," 
was  severely  criticised  ;  and  he  was  represented  as  "  called 
by  no  one,  connected  with  no  one,  and  recognised  by  no 
one  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel."  Had  this  been  all  it 
would  have  been  bad  enough,  but  other  insinuations 
followed.  He  was  "  fanatical,  undependable,  diseased  in 
body  and  mind,"  and  in  a  word  "  totally  worthless  !  " 
And  the  two  most  concerned  could  not  tell  how  far  all  this 
would  influence  Mr.  Tarn  in  London,  to  whom  Miss  Aldersey 
had  written  in  a  similar  strain. 

As  month  after  month  went  by  and  these  strange  mis- 
representations came  to  be  believed  in  certain  sections  of 
the  community,  Hudson  Taylor  had  to  learn  in  a  new  way 
what  it  was  to  take  refuge  in  God.  It  was  a  fiery  furnace 
seven  times  heated  ;  for  he  knew  how  his  loved  one  must 
be  suffering,  and  he  could  not  explain  anything  or  reassure 
her  even  of  his  devotion.  And  what  was  to  be  the  out- 
come ?  What  if  her  guardian  in  London  were  influenced 
by  Miss  Aldersey's  statements  ?  What  if  he  refused  his 
consent  to  the  marriage  ?  If  there  was  one  thing  of  which 
Hudson  Taylor  had  no  doubt  it  was  that  the  blessing  of 
God  rested  upon  obedience  to  parents  or  those  in  parental 
authority.  Nothing  would  have  induced  him  to  act  con- 
trary to  a  command  from  his  own  parents,  nor  could  he 
encourage  the  one  he  loved  to  disregard  her  guardian's 
wishes.  Years  after,  when  experience  had  confirmed  these 
convictions,  he  wrote  upon  this  important  subject  : 

I  have  never  known  disobedience  to  the  definite  command  of  a 
parent,  even  if  that  parent  were  mistaken,  that  was  not  fallowed  by 


438  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

retribution.  Conquer  through  the  Lord.^  He  can  open  any  door. 
The  responsibihty  is  with  the  parent  in  such  a  case,  and  it  is  a  great 
one.  When  son  or  daughter  can  say  in  all  sincerity,  "  I  am  waiting 
for  you,  Lord,  to  open  the  door,"  the  matter  is  in  His  hands,  and  He 
will  take  it  up. 

But  at  this  time  it  was  theory  more  than  experience  ; 
his  conviction  of  what  must  be  rather  than  his  knowledge 
of  what  was  ;   and  the  test  was  all  the  more  severe. 

No  wonder  he  needed  to  be  very  still  in  those  days 
before  the  Lord.  Never  before  had  he  had  to  walk  so 
carefully,  or  so  felt  his  helplessness  apart  from  sustaining 
grace. 

"  It  is  not  sufficient,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister  early  in  August,  "  to 
have  the  every  road  pointed  out  merely,  to  be  prevented  from  stray- 
ing to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  though  this  is  no  little  blessing. 
...  We  need  Him  to  direct  our  steps  .  .  .  step  after  step.  Nay 
more,  we  need  to  pass  through  this  wilderness  leaning,  always  leaning 
on  our  Beloved.     May  we  in  reality  do  this,  and  all  will  be  well." 

Meanwhile  in  another  part  of  the  city  another  lonely, 
suffering  heart  was  learning  the  same  lessons.  Deeply  she 
too  felt  the  sacredness  of  parental  authority,  and  that  the 
divine  blessing  could  not  rest  upon  a  step  taken  in  defiance 
of  its  control.  She  would  have  waited  if  need  be  for  years 
had  her  guardian  disapproved  the  marriage,  and  as  the 
slow  months  went  by  times  of  desolation  could  not  but 
come  over  her  in  view  of  all  he  was  likely  to  hear. 

She  was  visiting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gough  of  the  C.M.S.  on 
one  such  occasion,  who  entertained  a  warm  regard  for 
Hudson  Taylor.  He  may  have  been  spoken  of  with  appreci- 
ation :  at  any  rate  the  longing  for  him  that  was  always 
there  filled  and  overflowed  her  heart.  It  was  a  summer 
evening,  and  going  to  her  room  alone  the  poor  child  knelt 
long  in  silent  grief.  But  her  Bible  was  at  hand,  and  as  she 
turned  its  pages  the  precious  words  shone  out :  "  Trust  in 
Him  at  all  times  ;  ye  people,  pour  out  your  hearts  before 
Him  :  God  is  a  refuge  for  us."     And  that  just  met  her  need. 

"  I  marked  it  at  the  time,"  she  wrote  to  her  loved  one 

1  Mr.  Taylor  was  then  dealing  specially  with  the  question  of  a  call  to 
missionary  work,  the  consent  of  one  or  both  parents  being  withheld. 


THE  GOD  THAT  IS  ENOUGH  439 

seven  years  later,  "  and  the  light-coloured  ink  still  remains 
to  remind  me  of  that  night." 

"  My  soul,  wait  thou  only  upon  God  ;  for  my  expectation 
is  from  Him."  He  only,  He  alone  ;  always  El-Shaddai— 
"  The  God,  that  is  Enough." 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

EBENEZER   AND    JEHOVAH   JIREH 

September  and  October  1857.    Aet.  25. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  a  pair  of  scrolls  made  their 
appearance  in  the  sitting-room  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  that  were 
as  new  as  they  were  perplexing  to  the  little  company  of 
Christians  and  inquirers  gathered  there  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings for  worship.  Beautifully  written  in  Chinese  each 
character  in  itself  was  intelligible,  but  what  could  be 
the  meaning  of  the  strange  combination,  I-pien-i-seh-er  ; 
Je-ho-hua  I-la  ? 

The  young  missionary  who  had  been  ill  and  confined  to 
his  room  for  a  month  could  have  explained.  For  it  was 
there  in  quiet  communion  with  God  those  inspired  words 
had  come  to  him  in  such  fullness  of  meaning  as  to  make 
them  for  ever  memorable.  Ebenezer  and  Jehovah  Jireh  : 
"  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us,"  and  for  all  coming  need 
"  The  Lord  will  provide  "  ; — how  he  rejoiced  as  strength 
came  back  again  to  unfold  to  his  Chinese  friends  their 
precious  message,  leading  them  on  to  a  deeper  knowledge 
of  the  infinite  God  they  too  were  learning  to  trust. 

That  little  inner  circle,  small  though  it  was  in  numbers, 
was  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  Hudson  Taylor's  heart,  and  the 
illness  that  laid  him  aside  during  the  whole  of  September 
was  made  the  most  of  for  prayer  on  their  behalf.  Taken 
out  of  the  busy  round  of  preaching  and  medical  work  he 
was  able  to  give  more  time  to  individual  inquirers,  amongst 
whom  Mr.  Nyi,  a  business  man  in  the  city,  was  perhaps  the 
most  encouraging. 

44*> 


EBENEZER  AND  JEHOVAH  JIREH  441 

Passing  the  open  door  of  the  mission-house  one  evening 
soon  after  Mr.  Jones  and  his  colleague  had  settled  there, 
he  observed  that  something  was  going  on.  A  big  bell  was 
ringing,  and  a  number  of  people  were  passing  in  as  if  for  a 
meeting.  Hearing  that  it  was  a  "  Jesus  Hall,"  or  place 
where  foreign  teachers  discoursed  upon  religious  matters,  he 
too  turned  in  ;  for,  as  a  devout  Buddhist,  there  was  nothing 
about  which  he  felt  more  concern  than  the  pains  and 
penalties  due  to  sin,  and  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  on 
its  long  journey  he  knew  not  whither. 

A  young  foreigner  in  Chinese  dress  was  preaching  from 
his  Sacred  Classics,  and  this  was  the  passage  he  read  : 

As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the 
Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up  :  that  whosoever  beheveth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 

For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life.  For  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn 
the  world  ;  but  that  the  world  through  Him  might  be  saved. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  imagine  much  less  describe  the 
effect  upon  such  a  man  of  such  a  message,  heard  for  the 
first  time.  To  say  that  Nyi  was  interested  scarcely  begins 
to  express  all  that  went  on  in  his  mind.  For  he  was  a 
seeker  after  truth,  one  of  the  leaders  of  a  reformed  sect  of 
Buddhists  devoted  to  religious  observances.  The  story  of 
the  brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness  illustrating  the  divine 
remedy  for  sin  and  all  its  deadly  consequences  ;  the  facts 
of  the  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ;  and 
the  bearing  of  all  this  upon  his  own  need,  brought  home  to 
him  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit — well,  it  is  the  miracle  of 
the  ages,  and  thank  God  we  see  it  still  !  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up  .  .  .  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me." 

Nyi  came  into  the  hall  that  evening  one  of  the  vast — 
the  incredibly  vast  multitude — who  "  through  fear  of  death 
are  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage  "  ;  and  as  he  sat 
there  listening,  hope  dawned  in  his  heart,  old  things  for 
ever  passed  away  and  he  was  conscious  of  the  sunrise  that 
makes  all  things  new. 

But  the  meeting  was  drawing  to  a  close  ;    the  "  foreign 


442  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

teacher  "  had  ceased  speaking.  Looking  round  upon  the 
audience  with  the  instinct  of  one  accustomed  to  lead  in 
such  matters,  Nyi  rose  in  his  place  and  said  with  simple 
directness  : 

I  have  long  sought  the  Truth,  as  did  my  father  before  me,  but 
without  finding  it.  I  have  travelled  far  and  near,  but  have  never 
searched  it  out.  In  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  Taoism,  I  have  found 
no  rest ;  but  I  do  find  rest  in  what  we  have  heard  to-night.  Hence- 
forward I  am  a  believer  in  Jesus. 

The  effect  of  this  declaration  was  profound,  for  Nyi  was 
well  known  and  respected.  But  no  one  present  was  more 
moved  than  the  young  missionary  to  whom  he  specially 
addressed  himself.  Many  interviews  followed,  and  Hudson 
Taylor  experienced  the  joy  no  words  can  express  as  he  saw 
the  Lord  working  with  him  and  claiming  this  soul  for  His 
own. 

Shortly  after  his  conversion,  a  meeting  was  held  of  the 
society  over  which  Mr.  Nyi  had  formerly  presided,  and 
though  he  had  resigned  from  its  membership  he  obtained 
permission  to  be  present  and  to  explain  the  reasons  for  his 
change  of  faith.  Mr.  Taylor,  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
accompanying  him,  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  clearness 
and  power  with  which  he  set  forth  the  Gospel.  One  of  his 
former  co-religionists  was  led  to  Christ  through  his  in- 
strumentality, and  with  Nyi  himself  became  of  great  value 
to  the  Kuen-kiao-teo  church.  Nyi,  as  a  dealer  in  cotton, 
frequently  had  time  at  his  disposal  which  he  now  devoted 
to  helping  his  missionary  friends.  With  Mr.  Jones  he  went 
out  almost  daily,  taking  no  payment  for  his  services,  and 
everywhere  winning  an  entrance  for  the  message  he  was  so 
keen  to  bring. 

He  it  was  who,  talking  with  Mr.  Taylor,  unexpectedly 
raised  a  question  the  pain  of  which  was  not  easily  forgotten. 

"  How  long  have  you  had  the  Glad  Tidings  in  England?" 
he  asked  all  unsuspectingly. 

The  young  missionary  was  ashamed  to  tell  him,  and 
vaguely  replied  that  it  was  several  hundreds  of  years. 

"  What,"    exclaimed    Nyi    in    astonishment,    "  several 


EBENEZER  AND  JEHOVAH  JIREH  443 

hundreds  of  years  !     Is  it  possible  that  you  have  known 
about  Jesus  so  long,  and  only  now  have  come  to  tell  us  ?  " 

"  My  father  sought  the  truth  for  more  than  twenty 
years,"  he  continued  sadly,  "  and  died  without  finding  it. 
Oh,  why  did  you  not  come  sooner  ?  " 

Hardly  had  Hudson  Taylor  recovered  from  his  illness  and 
resumed  his  former  activities  when  a  call  came  to  very 
different  service — as  difficult  as  it  was  unexpected. 

Over  on  the  compound  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  his 
friend  Mr.  Quaterman  was  taken  seriously  ill.  A  devoted 
pioneer  evangelist,  he  had  remained  unmarried  during  the 
ten  years  of  his  life  in  China,  finding  a  congenial  home  with 
his  sister  Mrs.  Way.  His  brother-in-lav/,  one  of  the  Presby- 
terian missionaries,  was  absent  on  a  journey,  and  with 
several  children  to  care  for  Mrs.  Way  discovered  that  her 
brother  was  suffering  from  smallpox.  Sadly  Dr.  Parker 
pronounced  it  that  dread  disease  in  its  most  malignant 
form.  The  patient  had  of  course  to  be  isolated,  and  to  her 
great  distress  Mrs.  Way  could  not  undertake  the  nursing. 

No  one  else  seemed  in  a  position  to  do  so,  and  the  sufferer 
would  have  been  left  to  the  care  of  native  servants  had  not 
Hudson  Taylor  heard  of  it.  But  to  him  the  circumstances 
were  a  clear  call  to  go  to  the  help  of  his  friends.  He  was 
unmarried  and  knew  that  could  he  have  consulted  the  one 
he  loved  she  would  not  have  held  him  back.  As  it  was  he 
had  to  leave  it  to  others  to  tell  her,  and  almost  at  a  moment's 
notice  hastened  across  the  river  to  take  up  his  sorrowful 
task. 

Night  and  day  he  tended  the  dying  man,  with  no  thought 
of  self,  doing  duty  as  doctor  and  nurse  in  one,  that  others 
might  be  spared  the  risk  of  infection. 

"  He  has  been  taken  home  to  be  with  Jesus/'  he  wrote  a  week 
later,  "  and  great  was  my  privilege  in  being  permitted  to  minister 
to  the  Lord  in  his  person,  and  to  see  the  power  of  sustaining  grace." 

But  he  did  not  say  how  cast  upon  God  he  had  been  all 
through  those  terrible  nights  and  days,  nor  how  he  felt  the 
strain  now  that  it   was  over.     For  the  moment,  indeed, 


444  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

more  pressing  considerations  occupied  him,  and  he  was 
reminded  in  a  practical  way  of  the  scrolls  at  Kuen-kiao-teo 
with  their  precious  message. 

For  hardly  had  he  performed  the  last  offices  for  his 
friend  before  he  found  himself  in  an  unforeseen  dilemma. 
In  his  attendance  night  and  day  upon  the  patient  he  had 
been  obliged  to  change  his  clothing  frequently,  and  now  all 
the  garments  used  in  the  sick  room  had  to  be  discarded  for 
fear  of  spreading  the  infection.  A  Chinese  tailor  could 
soon  have  provided  others,  but  as  it  happened  the  young 
missionary  could  not  afford  a  fresh  supply.  It  was  not 
that  he  had  been  suffering  from  shortness  of  funds.  On 
the  contrary,  ever  since  leaving  the  C.E.S  he  had  received 
from  other  sources  more  than  he  personally  required.  But 
he  was  sharing  all  that  came  to  him  with  Mr.  Jones  and 
his  family,  and  had  had  the  pleasure  of  helping  others  also 
in  different  parts  of  China.  During  his  recent  illness  he 
had  written  to  his  mother  (September  20)  of  a  gift  of  thirty- 
seven  pounds  that  had  just  reached  him,  and  of  the  thank- 
fulness with  which  he  had  forwarded  it  to  a  brother- 
missionary  in  need. 

"  Do  not  be  uneasy  about  .  .  .  money,"  he  continued.  "  The 
Lord  directs.     I  do  not  get  it  to  lay  by  in  store,  but  to  use  for  Him." 

And  there  were  always  ways  in  which  it  could  be  used 
to  more  advantage,  it  would  seem,  than  on  himself. 

Thus  his  supply  of  clothing  had  run  short,  and  now  that 
the  infected  garments  had  to  be  destroyed  there  were  none 
to  fall  back  upon,  and  he  would  have  been  in  serious  difficulty 
but  for  the  resource  of  prayer. 

And  just  then,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  long-lost  box 
arrived  containing  among  other  belongings  all  the  clothing 
he  had  left  in  Swatow  fifteen  months  previously.  For  the 
promise  still  holds  good,  "  Before  they  call  I  will  answer, 
and  while  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear." 

A  little  incident  ?  Yes,  but  one  that  added  meaning 
to  the  motto  of  the  Mission  that  was  yet  to  grow  out  of  the 
growth  of  his  soul  : 

Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us. 
The  Lord  will  provide. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

JOY  COMETH  IN  THE  MORNING 

October  and  November  1857.     Aet.  25. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  his  attendance  Upon 
Mr.  Quaterman  should  have  proved  too  much  for  Hudson 
Taylor  at  this  time.  But  for  recent  vaccination  the  illness 
that  followed  might  have  been  much  more  serious,  for  it 
was  undoubtedly  smallpox,  and  the  fever  ran  high.  As  it 
was,  it  was  chiefly  memorable  for  the  mercy  that  averted 
worse  developments,  and  for  an  experience  toward  the 
close  that  brought  him  untold  comfort. 

It  was  early  on  October  20,  before  day-dawn  indeed, 
when  some  noise  in  the  street  awoke  him  with  a  sudden 
start.  He  could  not  sleep  again,  and  though  outwardly 
quiet  was  distressed  by  palpitation  due  to  his  exhausted 
condition.  And  then,  with  the  fatal  ease  of  disordered 
nerves,  one  thing  led  to  another  until  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  painful  apprehensions. 

All  the  suspense  and  anguish  of  the  long  months  of 
his  love  for  the  one  who  might  never  be  his  seemed  to 
come  back  like  a  flood,  gathering  itself  up  in  a  great  fear 
of  what  was  yet  to  come.  They  J^ad  suffered  so  much  ; 
their  love  for  one  another  was  so  intense,  and  the  opposition  it 
awakened  so  persistent  that  it  seemed  more  than  he  could 
bear.  In  a  few  weeks  now  the  letter  would  come  that  must 
decide  their  future.  Unreasoning  anxiety  laid  hold  upon  him, 
and  though  he  tried  to  quiet  his  distress  of  mind  by  handing 
it  all  over  to  the  Lord,  the  very  effort  added  to  his  sufferings. 

But  "  underneath,"  all  the  while,  were  "  the  Everlasting 

445 


446  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Arms."  One  Whose  comprehension  is  infinite  was  watching 
over  His  suffering  child  ;  and  in  the  way  of  all  others  most 
sure  to  help,  relief  was  given. 

"  All  at  once/'  he  wrote  to  his  sister  later  in  the  day,  "  I  became 
conscious  of  dear  Maria's  presence.  She  came  in  silently  as  a  breath 
of  air,  and  I  felt  such  a  tranquillity  steal  over  me — I  knew  she  must 
be  there.  I  felt  spell-bound  for  a  short  time,  but  at  length  without 
opening  my  eyes  I  put  out  my  hand,  and  she  took  it  in  such  a  warm, 
soft  grasp  that  I  could  not  refrain  from  a  look  of  gratitude.  She 
motioned  me  not  to  speak,  and  put  her  other  hand  on  my  forehead, 
and  I  felt  the  headache  which  had  been  distracting  and  the  fever  retire 
under  its  touch  and  sink  as  through  the  pillow.  She  whispered  to 
me  not  to  be  uneasy  .  .  .  that  she  was  mine  and  I  was  hers,  and 
that  I  must  keep  quiet  and  try  to  sleep.  And  so  I  did,  awaking 
some  hours  later  well  of  the  fever  though  very  weak. 

"  A  sweet  dream,  I  would  call  it ;  only  I  was  as  wide  awake  as  I 
am  now,  and  saw  and  felt  her  touch  as  plainly  as  I  do  now  pencil 
and  paper.  All  my  fear  in  the  fever  had  been  that  our  love  would 
come  to  nothing,  so  you  may  guess  how  it  soothed  me." 

It  was  with  pleasure  Hudson  Taylor  found  on  recovering 
from  this  illness  that  his  friend  Mr.  Burdon  of  Shanghai  was 
again  in  Ning-po,  this  time  to  arrange  for  his  wedding.  He 
had  been  engaged  to  the  elder  Miss  Dyer  for  almost  a  year, 
and  now  on  November  i6,  they  were  to  be  married.  With- 
out in  the  least  grudging  them  their  happiness,  he  could  not 
but  feel  the  contrast  with  his  own  circumstances  very  keenly, 
especially  in  view  of  Miss  Aldersey's  growing  dislike.  For 
as  time  went  on  she  seems,  if  anything,  to  have  increased 
her  opposition  to  the  younger's  sister's  engagement.  Not 
content  with  having  written  fully  to  Mr.  Tarn  in  London, 
she  continued  to  bring  accusations  of  a  serious  nature 
against  Hudson  Taylor.  It  came  to  such  a  pass  at  length 
that  Maria  herself  almost  wondered  that  her  confidence  did 
not  waver  in  the  one  of  whom  she  knew  so  little.  But 
their  love  was  too  deep,  too  God-given.  She  suffered  none 
the  less,  however,  especially  during  these  weeks  of  illness, 
his  own  and  Mr.  Quaterman's,  when  she  could  neither  come 
to  him  nor  do  anything  to  show  her  sympathy.  Yet  she 
had  come,  although  she  knew  it  not. 

It  was  rarely  the  young  people  could  meet  even  in  public 


JOY  COMETH  IN  THE  MORNING  447 

at  this  time,  for  the  school  in  which  the  Misses  Dyer  were 
teaching  had  been  moved  across  the  river  to  the  compound 
of  the  Presbyterian  Mission.  Living  with  Mrs.  Bausum  in 
the  brown,  gable-roofed  house  adjoining  the  school-building 
they  were  near  neighbours  of  the  Ways,  whose  love  and 
admiration  for  Hudson  Taylor  must  have  been  a  comfort 
to  the  younger  sister.  He  would  be  frequently  spoken  of 
with  gratitude  as  one  who  had  risked  his  life  in  ministering 
to  their  brother,^  and  Maria's  fingers  may  have  lingered  on 
the  keys  of  the  harmonium  that  had  belonged  to  Mr. 
Quaterman  and  was  now  to  be  given  to  her  friend. 

Not  that  Hudson  Taylor  felt  free  to  accept  the  gift. 
Much  as  he  would  have  valued  it,  he  dared  not  lay  himself 
open  to  further  misrepresentations. 

"  I  could  not  have  taken  it,"  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "  without 
its  having  been  considered  by  some  as  a  sort  of  payment,  and  that 
of  course  I  guard  against.  For  I  would  not  have  anyone  imagine 
that  I  desire  payment  in  this  life  for  service  to  the  Lord's  people." 

For  this  same  reason — that  he  might  avoid  causes  of 
offence — he  refrained  from  visiting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Way  on 
the  Presbyterian  compound,  and  waited  as  patiently  as 
he  might  without  communication  of  any  kind  with  the 
one  who  was  in  all  his  thoughts  until  the  letter  should 
arrive  on  which  so  much  depended. 

Meanwhile  with  returning  strength  he  was  more  than 
ever  busy  in  the  city.     The  work  both  in  the  home  he 

^  In  August  1905,  nearly  fifty  years  later,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Way's  wrote 
as  follows  : — 

"  Letters  from  Mrs.  R.  Way  of  Ning-po  would  have  given  delightful 
reminiscences  of  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,  but  these  letters,  so  much  prized, 
were  unavoidably  lost.  .  .  .  Mr.  Way  was  absent  from  the  city  when  the 
sickness  of  Mr.  Quaterman,  proving  to  be  smallpox,  rendered  the  situation 
of  Mrs.  Way  and  her  cliildren  very  alarming.  The  doctor  had  him  isolated, 
and  I  suppose  he  would  have  been  left  to  the  care  of  the  Chinese,  had  not 
our  Heavenl}'-  Father  interposed  and  moved  the  heart  of  His  faithful 
servant,  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,  to  take  upon  himself  to  be  nurse,  brother, 
and  comforter  in  one.  Actuated  by  the  very  spirit  of  Christ,  he  cut  himself 
off  from  every  one,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  my  suffering  brother. 

"  The  sad  details— his  sore  sickness  and  death —brought  sorrow  to  our 
hearts ;  but  how  this  was  tempered  by  the  knowledge  that  loving  hands 
and  devoted  care  had  done  all  that  could  be  done  for  our  brother  !  " 

"  For  this  dear  servant  of  the  Lord,  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,"  added  another 
member  of  the  family  (Miss  G.  S.  Way,  of  Savannah,  Georgia),  "  we  have 
always  felt  the  deepest  gratitude  ;  and  we  ever  rejoiced  in  the  great  things 
he  was  enabled  to  accomplish  in  winning  China  for  Christ." 


448  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

shared  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  and  in  their  preaching- 
station  was  full  of  encouragement,  and  they  had  added  to 
it  "  free  breakfasts  "  for  the  very  poor  that  were  a  special 
source  of  satisfaction  to  Hudson  Taylor.  The  Lord  was 
supplying  his  needs  more  bountifully  than  ever  before,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  the  words  "  freely  ye  have  received,  freely 
give,"  he  rejoiced  to  pour  out  all  that  he  was  and  had  in  the 
service  of  others. 

Feeding  sixty  to  eighty  people  every  day  was  a  consider- 
able tax  on  their  resources  however,  and  once  and  again  they 
had  actually  come  to  the  last  penny  before  fresh  supplies  were 
received.  This  very  naturally  was  misunderstood  in  some 
quarters,  as  may  be  seen  from  Dr.  Martin's  interesting 
recollections.^  But  both  Hudson  Taylor  and  his  colleague 
were  walking  prayerfully  before  God  in  the  matter,  and  He 
honoured  their  faith  while  allowing  it  also  to  be  tested. 

"  Many  think  I  am  very  poor,"  wrote  the  young  missionary  in  the 
middle  of  November.  "  This  certainly  is  true  enough  in  one  sense, 
but  thank  God  it  is  '  As  poor,  yet  making  many  rich  ;  as  having 
nothing,  yet  possessing  all  things.'  ...  I  would  not  if  I  could  be 
otherwise  than  as  I  am — entirely  dependent  myself  upon  the  Lord, 
and  used  as  a  channel  of  help  to  others." 

An  instance  was  before  him  at  the  moment  of  the  care 
and  faithfulness  of  God  that  he  could  not  but  share  with 
his  home-circle.  For  only  a  few  days  before  they  had  found 
themselves  in  "  sore  straits  "  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  through  their 
work  of  love  and  mercy.  Seventy  hungry  people,  the 
poorest  of  the  poor,  had  had  their  breakfast  that  morning, 

'  "  I  conclude,"  writes  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  recalling  early  Ning-po  days, 
"  with  two  names  more  eminent  than  any  of  the  preceding,  the  names  of 
Robert  Hart  and  Hudson  Taylor.  From  a  budding  interpreter  the  former 
has  blossomed  into  the  famous  statesman  known  as  the  '  Great  I.G.' 
(Inspector-General  of  the  Chinese  Customs  Service).  His  career  to  which 
there  is  no  parallel  in  East  or  West  will  be  further  noticed  in  connection 
with  Peking.  The  latter,  who  rules  as  many  men  and  with  a  sway  not  less 
absolute,  is  the  Loyola  of  Protestant  Missions.  When  I  first  met  him  he 
was  a  mystic  absorbed  in  religious  dreams,  waiting  to  have  his  work 
revealed  ;  not  idle,  but  aimless.  When  he  had  money  he  spent  it  on  charity 
to  needy  Chinese,  and  then  was  reduced  to  sore  straits  himself.  When  the 
vocation  found  him  it  made  him  a  new  man,  with  iron  will  and  untiring 
energy.  He  erred  [?]  in  leading  his  followers  to  make  war  on  ancestral 
worship,  instead  of  seeking  to  reform  it ;  still  in  founding  the  China  Inland 
Mission  he  has  made  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  missionary  enterprise  " 
(from  A  Cycle  of  Cathay) . 


JOY  COMETH  IN  THE  MORNING  449 

and  had  listened  for  an  hour  or  more  to  the  story  of  Re- 
deeming Love.  Nyi,  who  had  just  been  baptized,  and 
others  of  the  native  Christians  were  very  helpful  on  these 
occasions,  and  no  doubt  found  their  own  faith  strengthened 
by  the  experiences  they  witnessed. 

"  Well,  on  that  Saturday  morning,"  continued  Hudson  Taylor, 
"  we  paid  all  expenses  and  provided  for  the  morrow,  after  which  we 
had  not  a  single  dollar  left.  .  .  .  How  the  Lord  would  care  for  us  on 
Monday  we  knew  not,  but  over  our  mantelpiece  hung  two  scrolls  in 
Chinese  character — Ebenezer  and  Jehovah  Jireh — and  He  kept  us 
from  doubting  for  a  moment." 

And  then,  that  very  day,  letters  that  had  travelled  half 
across  the  world  reached  Ning-po  when  no  mail  was  expected. 
Posted  in  England  two  months  previously,  they  had  been 
brought  in  safety  over  land  and  sea,  and  so  prospered  on 
their  journey  that  the  prayer  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread  "  was  answered  before  the  sun  went  dovrai. 

"  That  very  day,"  concluded  Hudson  Taylor,  "  the  mail  came  in 
a  week  before  it  was  due,  and  Mr.  Jones  received  a  bill  for  two  hundred 
and  fourteen  dollars.  So  once  again  we  thanked  God  and  took 
courage. 

"  The  bill  was  taken  to  a  merchant,  and  though  there  is  usually  a 
delay  of  several  days  before  we  can  get  the  money,  this  time  he  said  : 
'  Send  down  on  Monday  and  I  will  have  it  ready.'  We  sent,  and 
though  he  had  not  been  able  to  buy  all  the  dollars  he  let  us  have 
seventy  on  account.    So  all  was  well. 

"Oh  it  is  sweet  to  live  thus  in  direct  dependence  upon  the  Lord 
who  never  fails  us  ! 

"  On  Monday  the  poor  had  their  breakfast  as  usual,  for  we  had  not 
told  them  not  to  come,  being  assured  that  it  was  the  Lord's  work  and 
that  He  would  provide.  We  could  not  help  our  eyes  filling  with 
tears  of  thankfulness  as  we  saw  not  only  our  own  needs  supplied,  but 
the  widow  and  orphan,  the  blind,  lame  and  destitute  together  provided 
for  by  the  bounty  of  Him  who  feeds  the  sparrows.  .  .  . 

"  '  Oh  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good  :  blessed  is  the  man  that 
trusteth  in  Him.  Oh  fear  the  Lord,  ye  His  saints  :  for  there  is  no 
want  to  them  that  fear  Him.  The  young  lions  do  lack  and  suffer 
hunger  :  but  they  that  seek  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good  thing  ' — 
and  if  not  good,  why  want  it  ?  " 

Very  soon  after  this  Hudson  Taylor  found  that  the  Lord 
had  been  working  for  him  in  other  ways  also.     For  it  was 

2G 


450  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

toward  the  end  of  November  the  long-looked-for  letters 
came — and  were  favourable !  After  careful  inquiry  in 
London,  Mr.  Tarn  had  satisfied  himself  that  Hudson  Taylor 
was  a  young  missionary  of  unusual  promise.  The  Secretaries 
of  the  Chinese  Evangelisation  Society  had  nothing  but  good 
to  say  of  him,  and  from  other  sources  also  he  had  the  highest 
references.  Taking  therefore  any  disquieting  rumours  he 
may  have  heard  for  no  more  than  they  were  worth,  he 
cordially  consented  to  his  niece's  engagement,  requesting 
only  that  the  marriage  should  be  delayed  until  she  came  of 
age.  And  that  would  be  in  little  more  than  two  months' 
time  ! 

Oh  China,  China !  How  the  said  young  missionary 
longed,  after  that,  to  see  what  some  one  else  would  say,  and 
how  distractingly  difficult  it  was  to  arrange  an  interview  ! 
To  cross  the  river  forthwith  and  present  himself  at  Mrs. 
Bausum's  would  have  outraged  all  proprieties.  Anywhere 
on  the  compound  where  she  lived,  indeed,  they  could  not 
have  met  under  the  circumstances  ;  and  his  own  home  was 
still  more  out  of  the  question.  But  news  of  this  sort  flies 
fast,  and  in  some  way  Mrs.  Knowlton  of  the  American 
Baptist  Mission  heard  of  the  situation.  She  was  in  favour 
of  the  engagement,  and  lived  in  a  quiet  place  outside  the 
city-wall  and  close  to  the  river.  She  would  send  a  note  to 
the  school.  Miss  Dyer  could  come  to  see  her  at  any  time  ; 
and  if  somebody  else  were  there — well,  such  things  will 
happen,  even  in  China  ! 

So  it  was  in  Mrs.  Knowlton's  drawing-room  he  waited 
while  the  messenger  went  slowly,  slowly  across  the  river 
and  seemed  as  if  he  never  would  return.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  windows  overlooked  the  ferry,  and  that  Hudson  Taylor 
had  not  to  keep  up  the  form  of  conversation.  At  last,  at 
last !  The  slender  figure,  quick  step,  bright  young  voice 
in  the  passage — then  the  door  opened,  and  for  the  first  time 
they  were  together  alone. 

Fifty  years  later  the  joy  of  that  moment  had  not  left 
him  :  "  We  sat  side  by  side  on  the  sofa,"  he  said,  "  her 
hand  clasped  in  mine.  It  never  cooled — my  love  for  her. 
It  has  not  cooled  now." 


Photographs  by  ''■  »'''*'•/*«'''  l-'"*""**''- 

a.    THE    FERRY    BETWEEN    THE    FOREIGN    SETTLEMENT    AND    NING-PO. 

Showing  the  Salt  Gate  and  City  Wall  near  Dr.  Parker's  Hospital. 

2.    PART    OP    THE    PRESI5YTERTAN    COMPOUND    OPPO.SITE    THE    HOSPITAL 

Showing  the  Girls'  School  and  House  among  the  trees,  from  whieh  Mrs.  Hudson  Taylor  was  married. 

3.    A  VIEW  FROM  BRIDGE  STREET  NEAR  THE  JUNCTION  OP  THE  SUN  AND  MOON  LAKES. 

To  fi'ce  page  450. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

PERFECT   IN   ONE 

December  1857-jANUARY  1858.     Aet.  25. 

After  this  they  were  openly  engaged,  and  could  meet  from 
time  to  time  in  the  company  of  friends  :  and  how  those 
happy  winter  days  made  up  for  all  that  had  gone  before  ! 

"  I  never  felt  in  better  health  or  spirits  in  my  life,"  wrote  Hudson 
Taylor.  "  To  God  who  alone  doeth  wondrous  things,  who  raiseth 
up  those  (hat  are  bowed  down  and  has  caused  every  effort  to  injure 
me  to  woi  :  only  for  good  ...  to  Him  be  praise  and  glory." 

The  engagement  was  not  to  be  a  long  one,  for  on  January 
16  Miss  Dyer  would  be  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  free  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  her  heart.  So  the  closing  weeks  of 
the  year  were  full  of  joyous  anticipation. 

It  is  good  to  know  that  in  a  life  so  serious  as  regards  its 
outward  surroundings  there  were  still  times  when  they 
could  be  young  and  gay.  One  refreshing  glimpse  into  this 
side  of  things  is  afforded  by  an  intimate  friend  of  those 
days,  now  the  widow  of  the  devoted  and  beloved  Dr.  Nevius. 

"  To  those  who  only  knew  Mr.  Taylor  in  later  life,"  wrote  Mrs. 
Nevius,  "  it  may  be  a  surprise  to  learn  that  when  he  '  fell  in  love  ' 
it  was  a  headlong  plunge,  and  by  no  means  a  sHght  or  evanescent 
passion.  And  his  fiancee  with  her  strong,  emotional  nature  was  in 
this  respect  not  unlike  him.  My  husband  was  rather  a  special  friend 
of  both,  and  he  sometimes  indulged  his  propensities  for  good-natured 
teasing  at  their  expense.  I  was  in  America,  sent  home  on  account  of 
ill-health,  when  the  following  little  '  passage  at  arms,'  or  rather  hands, 
took  place. 

•'  One  evening  the  young  people  were  seated  round  a  table  playing  a 

451 


452  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

game  that  required  their  hands  to  be  hidden  beneath  it.  To  his 
surprise  Mr.  Nevius  received  an  unexpected  squeeze.  Guessing  at 
once  that  it  was  a  case  of  mistaken  identity,  and  enjoying  the  situation, 
he  returned  the  pressure  with  interest.  In  a  moment  '  Maria  '  his 
next  neighbour  discovered  her  mistake,  but  when  she  would  have 
withdrawn  her  hand  it  was  held  fast  by  its  captor's  strong  fingers. 
Not  until  flushed  cheeks  and  almost  tearful  eyes  warned  him  that 
the  joke  had  gone  far  enough  did  he  release  her.  Those  were  days 
when  to  laugh  was  easy,  and  not  such  very  funny  things  were  sufficient 
to  evoke  much  merriment. 

"Perhaps  still  another  person  whose  name  is  known  round  the  world 
was  sitting  at  that  table,  for  Mr.  (now  Sir  Robert)  Hart  was  a  frequent 
visitor  in  our  home.  And  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  now  venerable 
and  even  then  learned  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  was  also  a  guest  that 
evening.  How  little  we  imagined  in  those  days  the  remarkable  careers 
in  store  for  some  of  those  bright,  merry  young  people  !  But  cares 
and  responsibilities  were  to  come  upon  them  soon  enough  ;  and  what 
could  have  been  better,  in  the  midst  of  more  serious  preparation,  than 
just  such  times  as  these  ?  They  were  hard  students  even  then,  every 
one  of  them,  and  probably  erred  on  the  side  of  overwork." 

A  very  different  experience  and  one  that  might  v^ell 
have  given  the  young  girl  pause,  had  her  character  been 
other  than  it  was,  occurred  on  the  eve  of  their  marriage  a 
few  weeks  later. 

"  It  was  the  6th  of  January,"  said  Mr.  Taylor,  recalling  the  circum- 
stances in  conversation  with  the  writers,  "  and  the  bride-elect  was 
coming  to  tea  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  in  company  with  Mrs.  Bausum.  This 
had  been  arranged  some  time  previously,  when  we  were  under  no 
anxiety  as  to  supplies.  But  when  the  time  drew  near  we  found  our- 
selves in  serious  difficulty.  Expenses  had  been  heavy  on  account  of 
our  work  among  the  poor,  and  mail  after  mail  had  come  in  bringing 
nothing  from  home.  At  last  on  the  morning  of  the  day  in  question 
one  solitary  cash — the  twentieth  part  of  a  penny — was  all  that  we 
had  left  between  us.  But  though  tried  we  looked  to  the  Lord  once 
again  to  manifest  His  gracious  care. 

"  Enough  remained  in  the  house  to  supply  a  modest  breakfast ; 
after  which,  having  neither  food  for  the  rest  of  the  day  nor  money  to 
obtain  any,  we  could  only  betake  ourselves  to  Him  who  is  a  real 
Father,  and  cannot  forget  His  children's  needs.  And  you  may  be 
sure  that  what  was  to  me  the  most  painful  element  in  the  situation — 
our  unpreparedness  for  the  guests  who  were  coming  that  evening — 
was  specially  remembered  before  Him. 

"  After  prayer  and  deliberation  Mr.  Jones  agreed  with  me  that  we 


PERFECT  IN  ONE  453 

ought  to  try  to  dispose  of  some  saleable  article  in  order  to  supply  our 
immediate  needs.  But  on  looking  round  we  saw  nothing  that  could 
well  be  spared,  except  perhaps  a  clock,  and  little  that  the  Chinese 
would  purchase  for  ready  money.  Credit  to  any  extent  we  might  have 
had,  but  that  would  not  have  been  in  accordance  with  our  principle 
in  the  matter  of  debt.  So  the  clock  was  taken  to  a  neighbouring 
merchant,  who  proved  a  willing  purchaser. 

"  '  But  of  course  you  must  leave  it  for  a  week,'  he  said, '  that  we  may 
see  how  it  goes.  No  one  would  think  of  paying  money  down  for  an 
untried  clock  ! ' 

"  This  was  so  reasonable  from  the  Chinese  point  of  view  that  there 
was  no  gainsaying  it,  and  we  saw  there  was  no  help  for  us  in  that 
direction. 

"  One  other  article  remained,  an  American  stove  that  could  have 
been  sold  for  old  iron,  but  we  much  regretted  parting  with  it.  Still, 
it  seemed  necessary,  so  we  set  out  for  the  foundry  which  was  at  some 
distance.  On  the  way,  however,  our  path  was  unexpectedly  closed. 
The  bridge  of  boats,  by  which  we  had  intended  crossing  the  river, 
had  been  carried  away  in  the  night,  and  all  that  remained  was  a  ferry, 
the  fare  for  which  was  two  cash  each.  As  we  only  possessed  one  cash 
between  us  our  course  was  clearly  to  return  and  await  God's  own 
interposition  on  our  behalf. 

"  Upon  reaching  home  again  we  found  that  Mrs.  Jones  and  the 
children  had  gone  to  dine  with  a  friend.  The  invitation,  accepted 
some  days  previously,  had  included  Mr.  Jones,  but  under  the  circum- 
stances he  would  not  hear  of  leaving  me.  So  we  set  to  work  and 
carefully  searched  the  cupboards,  and  though  there  was  nothing  to 
eat  we  found  a  small  packet  of  cocoa  which  with  a  little  hot  water 
somewhat  revived  us. 

"  Our  Chinese  cook  then  came  and  begged  his  master  to  make  use 
of  the  small  sum  left  of  his  wages.  But  to  this  Mr.  Jones  could  not 
agree,  as  he  explained  to  the  man,  adding  that  although  we  could  not 
go  into  debt,  even  for  necessary  food,  our  Heavenly  Father  knew  all 
about  it,  and  would  soon  supply  His  children's  needs. 

"But  though  he  spoke  with  confidence,  our  faith  was  not  a  little  tried 
as  we  went  into  his  study  and  gave  ourselves  to  waiting  upon  God. 
We  cried  indeed  unto  the  Lord  in  our  trouble,  and  He  heard — and 
delivered  us  out  of  all  our  distresses. 

"  For  while  we  were  still  on  our  knees,  the  cook  came  to  the  door. 
'  Oh  Teacher,  Teacher,'  he  exclaimed,  *  here  are  letters  ! '  Once  again 
a  mail  had  arrived  from  home  several  days  before  it  was  expected, 
bringing,  as  we  found  to  our  thankfulness,  a  generous  gift  from  Mr. 
Berger.  '  Whoso  is  wise  and  will  observe  these  things,  even  they 
shall  understand  the  loving -kindness  of  the  Lord.'  Who  that  ever 
trusted  in  Him  was  put  to  shame  ?  " 


454  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Over  a  happy  tea-table  that  evening  the  whole  story 
came  out,  for  their  hearts  were  so  filled  with  joy  and  praise 
that  they  could  not  keep  it  to  themselves.  The  wedding 
had  been  arranged  for  January  20,  just  two  weeks  later, 
but  in  the  light  of  what  had  taken  place  Hudson  Taylor 
felt  that  he  must  put  before  his  loved  one  the  more  serious 
aspects  of  the  step  she  was  taking.  Very  fully  he  told 
her,  when  they  were  left  alone,  just  what  the  trial  had 
been. 

"  I  cannot  hold  you  to  your  promise,"  he  continued, 
"  if  you  would  rather  draw  back.  You  see  how  difficult  our 
life  may  be  at  times  " 

"  Have  you  forgotten  ?  "  the  sweet  voice  interposed. 
"  I  was  left  an  orphan  in  a  far-off  land.  God  has  been  my 
Father  all  these  years  ;  and  do  you  think  I  shall  be  afraid 
to  trust  Him  now  ?  " 

"  My  heart  did  sing  for  joy,"  he  said  as  he  told  the  story. 
And  well  it  might !  For  the  price  of  such  a  woman  is  "  far 
above  rubies." 

So  the  preparations  for  the  wedding  went  on, — outwardly 
with  the  kind  help  of  many  friends,  and  inwardly  with  the 
blessing  of  God.  Some  of  the  lessons  he  was  learning  at 
this  time  may  be  gathered  from  the  last  letters  Hudson 
Taylor  penned  before  the  happy  event. 

I  can  scarcely  realise,  dear  Mother,  what  has  happened ;  that  after 
all  the  agony  and  suspense  we  have  sufifered  we  are  not  only  at  liberty 
to  meet  and  be  much  with  each  other,  but  that  within  a  few  days,  D.V., 
we  are  to  be  married  !  God  has  been  good  to  us.  He  has  indeed 
answered  our  prayer  and  taken  our  part  against  the  mighty.  Oh 
may  we  walk  more  closely  with  Him  and  serve  Him  more  faithfully. 
I  wish  you  knew  my  Precious  One.  She  is  such  a  treasure  !  She 
is  all  that  I  desire. 

Yet  the  first  place  in  his  heart  was  truly  given  to  Him 
"  whose  love  exceeds  all  human  affection,"  as  he  wrote  in 
another  letter,  "  and  who  can  fill  the  soul  with  gladness  to 
which  all  other  joy  is  unworthy  to  be  compared." 

Now  I  know  what  it  is  to  have  my  name  written  on  His  heart  .  .  . 


PERFECT  IX  ONE  455 

and  why  He  never  ceases  to  intercede  for  me  .  .  .  His  love  is  so  great 
that  He  cannot.  It  is  overwhelming,  is  it  not  ?  Such  depths  of  love, 
and  for  me  ! 

The  Wedding  Day  was  perfect,  setting  a  crown  on  all 
that  had  gone  before.^ 

In  brilliant  sunshine  Hudson  Taylor  crossed  the  river 
and  made  his  way  to  the  old  temple,  near  the  Presbyterian 
compound,  that  did  duty  as  a  Consulate.  The  Rev.  F.  F. 
Gough  was  there  already  in  his  office  as  Chaplain,  with 
friends  from  all  the|different  Missions,  officers  from  the 
British  gunboat  and^a  few  other  foreigners.  Mr.  Robert 
Hart  represented  the  absent  Consul ;  and  Mr.  Way  the 
father  of  the  bride. 

Very  sweet  and  fair  sheTooked  in  more  than  Hudson 
Taylor's  eyes  that  day,  in  her  simple  grey  silk  gown  and 
wedding  veil.  He  was  wearing  ordinary  Chinese  dress,  and 
to  some  the  contrast  between  them  must  have  seemed 
remarkable.  But  to  those  who  could  see  below  the  surface 
the  noteworthy  thing  about  this  wedding  was  the  way  in 
which  bride  and  bridegroom  were  already  "  perfect  in  one." 

The  reception  afterwards  in  the  hospitable  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Way,  the  speeches  and  all  the  kind  congratulations 
passed  like  a  dream  ;  but  it  began  to  seem  more  real  when 
early  sunset  found  them  alone  together  among  the  Western 
Hills.  And  the  days  that  followed  were  better  far  than 
any  dream. 

From  the  guest-room  of  the  Nioh-wang  monastery 
Hudson  Taylor  wrote  a  week  later  : 

Jan.  28.  We  are  so  happy !  The  Lord  Himself  has  turned  our 
sorrow  into  joy,  giving  us  "  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness."  .  .  . 

Jan.  29.  He  has  answered  all  our  prayers  ;  overruled  the  opposi- 
tion of  those  who  would  have  separated  us  ;  justified  the  confidence 
He  enabled  us  to  place  in  Him,  and  made  us  very,  very  happy  indeed. 

And  from  Ning-po,  when  six  weeks  had  gone  by  : 

Oh,  to  be  married  to  the  one  you  do  love,  and  love  most  tenderly 

'  January'  20,  1858. 


456  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  devotedly  .  .  .  that  is  bliss  beyond  the  power  of  words  to  express 
or  imagination  conceive  !  There  is  no  disappointment  there.  And 
every  day  as  it  shows  more  of  the  mind  of  your  Beloved — when  you 
have  such  a  treasure  as  mine — makes  you  only  more  proud,  more 
happy,  more  humbly  thankful  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  this  best  of 
earthly  gifts. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII 

OUR   JOY   AND   CROWN   OF   REJOICING 

1858-1859.    Aet.  26. 

A  NEW  home,  especially  if  it  is  to  receive  a  bride,  is  just  as 
interesting  in  China  as  elsewhere  ;  and  Hudson  Taylor 
found  himself  quite  popular  on  Bridge  Street  when  in  the 
early  spring  he  remodelled  the  barn-like  attic  in  which  he 
had  formerly  dwelt  alone.  Not  only  was  he  married,  a 
change  that  in  itself  entitled  him  to  consideration,  but  he 
had  married  the  well-known  Da-yia  Ku-niang  who  for  five 
years  had  lived  and  worked  in  that  part  of  the  city.  In 
addition  to  being  a  bride  she  was  the  trusted  friend  of 
many  a  woman  and  girl  throughout  the  neighbourhood,  so 
that  visitors  were  numerous  when  the  young  couple  came 
into  residence,  as  they  did  toward  the  end  of  April. 

This  was  three  months  after  their  marriage,  and  in  the 
interval  they  had  broken  ground  in  a  country  district  eight 
or  ten  miles  from  the  city.  From  the  quiet  of  the  Nioh-wang 
monastery  they  had  moved  to  a  busy  little  town  (Moh-iz-in) 
on  the  shores  of  the  Eastern  Lake.  Surrounded  by  a  large 
fishing  population  they  had  spent  a  happy  month  living  and 
preaching  Christ  among  those  who  had  never  heard.  Love 
and  joy,  it  seemed,  were  a  wonderful  talisman  with  which 
to  open  hearts,  and  it  was  a  real  sorrow  when  illness  obliged 
them  to  abandon  the  native  cottage  in  which  they  had  been 
living  and  return  to  more  suitable  quarters  in  the  city. 

Long  weeks  of  nursing  followed,  for  the  fever  was  nothing 
less  than  typhoid,  which  attacked  them  one  after  the  other. 
It  was  evident  that  it  would  not  do  to  return  to  Moh-tz-in 

457 


458  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

for  the  summer  ;  so  while  continuing  to  visit  it  as  an  out- 
station  Mr.  Taylor  decided,  as  we  have  seen,  to  occupy  the 
premises  on  Bridge  Street,  where  it  would  not  be  necessary 
to  sleep  on  the  ground  floor. 

So  it  was  there  over  the  chapel,  between  the  narrow 
street  in  front  and  the  canal  behind,  in  the  little  rooms  that 
were  to  form  the  cradle  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  and 
are  now  its  oldest  home,  that  the  young  missionaries  began 
their  settled  work.  Downstairs  everything  remained  as 
before,  but  a  few  small  chambers  were  fashioned  above, 
with  inexpensive  partitions.  Chinese  furniture  was  easily 
to  be  had,  and  housekeeping  was  a  simple  matter  to  one  so 
familiar  with  the  language  and  ways  of  the  people. 

Then  it  was  that  Hudson  Taylor  discovered  fresh  meaning 
in  the  inspired  word,  "  Whoso  findeth  a  wife  findeth  a  good 
thing,  and  obtaineth  favour  of  the  Lord."  Missionary 
life  was  no  longer  a  one-sided,  bachelor  affair,  but  rounded 
out  and  complete  in  all  its  relations.  He  began  to  feel  in 
touch  with  the  people  in  a  new  way,  and  was  able  to  under- 
stand and  serve  them  better  at  every  point.  And  the 
gentle  presence  that  made  the  sunshine  of  his  home  was 
loved  and  welcomed  by  the  neighbours  all  about  them. 
Quite  freely  she  went  in  and  out  of  their  courtyards,  seeking 
pupils  for  her  Httle  school,  chatting  with  the  children, 
delighting  the  women  with  her  understanding  of  their 
everyday  affairs,  and  cheering  the  old  people  with  ready 
sympathy.  There  was  something  about  her  bright  face 
and  pleasant  ways  that  made  them  want  to  know  the  secret 
of  the  peace  she  possessed,  and  many  came  to  the  meetings 
in  the  Mission-house  to  hear  more  from  her  lips  of  the  Saviour 
who  made  her  life  so  different  from  their  own.  Thus  a 
light  began  to  shine  from  the  new  home  on  Bridge  Street 
that  brightened  many  a  heart  in  that  great  heathen  city, 
and  both  husband  and  wife  discovered  how  much  marriage 
may  help  the  missionary  in  his  work  when  it  is  not  only 
"  in  the  Lord,"  but  "  of  Him,  through  Him,  and  to  Him." 

They   were   not   without   their   anxieties,   however,    in 
common  with  all  others  in  Ning-po  this  summer,  for  it  was 


OUR  JOY  AND  CROWN  OF  REJOICING      459 

a  time  of  painful  excitement  both  in  and  around  the  city. 
The  Tai-ping  RebelHon,  still  at  the  height  of  its  power,  was 
moving  rapidly  toward  the  rich  province  of  Cheh-kiang, 
upon  the  conquest  of  which  its  leaders  had  determined  ; 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Hang-chow,  Shao-hing,  Ning-po  and 
other  important  places  saw  themselves  powerless  to  avert  a 
calamity  that  defied  imagination. 

Little  or  no  assistance  could  be  expected  from  Peking. 
Worsted  in  the  unequal  conflict  with  England,  the  broken- 
hearted Emperor  had  witnessed  the  collapse  of  all  his 
hopes  as  to  protecting  his  country  from  foreign  opium, 
and  the  capital  was  about  to  surrender  before  the  might  of 
European  arms.  With  such  affairs  on  hand  what  help 
could  be  given  to  a  distant  province  over  which  were  hover- 
ing the  harpies  of  civil  war  ?  And  as  to  self-defence,  the 
experience  of  eight  terrible  years  had  taught  the  people 
only  too  well  that  success  lay  with  the  Rebels  and  there  was 
no  safety  but  in  flight.  And  for  flight  the  panic-stricken 
inhabitants  of  Ning-po  were  already  preparing. 

"  Great  alarm  has  been  felt  in  this  city,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor  early  in 
June,  "  on  account  of  the  approach  of  the  Rebels.  .  .  .  Many  wealthy 
men  have  moved  their  families  and  effects  into  the  country,  and  pawn- 
brokers have  been  fortifying  their  places  of  business.  You  will  be 
aware  that  the  latter  are  a  wealthy  class  in  China,  something  like 
bankers  at  home,  and  are  therefore  the  most  likely  to  be  attacked 
in  the  event  of  serious  disturbance.  Passing  along  the  street,  making 
purchases  in  shops  and  even  when  one  is  preaching,  people  stop  one 
to  ask  if  the  Rebels  are  coming ;  and  though  the  excitement  is  less 
than  it  was,  this  still  continues."  ^ 

Even  the  capture  of  the  forts  at  Tien-tsin,  guarding  the 
approach  to  the  capital,  aroused  but  little  interest.  It  was 
too  far  off  to  make  much  difference  !  But  here  close  at 
hand  were  the  dreaded  "  long-haired  Rebels."  And  Heaven 
itself  seemed  indifferent  to  the  calamities  of  the  people  ! 

For,  to  add  to  their  distress,  the  spring  and  autumn  crops 

^  It  was  a  needless  alarm  for  the  time  being,  for  not  until  three  and  a 
half  years  later  (December  1861)  did  the  Rebels  succeed  in  possessing 
themselves  of  Ning-po.  But  the  tragedy  when  it  came  justified  only  too 
fully  all  the  terrible  apprehensions,  reducing  the  population  of  the  city 
and  its  immediate  surroundings  to  barely  a  twentieth  part  of  its  former 
number. 


46o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

were  largely  ruined  through  an  unusual  rainfall  all  over 
this  part  of  China.  Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  the 
clouds  poured  out  their  torrents.  Rich  and  poor  were  alike 
filled  with  consternation,  and  large  sums  of  money  were 
lavished  at  the  shrine  of  many  an  idol. 

"  The  Mandarins,  great  and  small,  have  been  to  the  principal 
temples  to  pray  for  fair  weather,"  Mr.  Taylor  continued,  "  but  of 
course  in  vain.  When  will  this  poor  people  cease  to  lean  on  them, 
and  turn  to  the  only  living  and  true  God  ?  Never,  I  suppose,  until 
He  comes  whose  right  it  is  to  reign,  and  to  whom  shall '  the  gathering 
of  the  nations  be.'  " 

All  this,  of  course,  seriously  affected  missionary  work 
at  Bridge  Street  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  Some- 
times the  preaching-hall  was  almost  empty,  and  hardly  a 
passer-by  was  to  be  seen  on  the  streets.  This  was  when  the 
rain  was  specially  heavy.  Again  at  other  times  Mr.  Taylor 
had  all  he  could  do  to  keep  the  crowds  in  order,  and  the 
preaching  was  constantly  interrupted  by  questions  as  to  the 
troubles  that  engrossed  the  thoughts  of  the  people. 

There  were  not  wanting  difiiculties  also  in  the  work 
itself  that  called  for  faith  and  patience,  chief  of  which 
was  the  lack  of  native  helpers.  Mrs.  Taylor,  happily,  had 
succeeded  in  obtaining  one  or  two  servants,  although  they 
were  wont  to  disappear  on  the  least  provocation,  or  even 
without  any.  But  Christian  fellow-workers  they  had  none. 
Preaching,  teaching,  prescribing  and  dispensing  medicines, 
as  well  as  entertaining  visitors  by  the  hour,  Mr.  Taylor 
had  to  manage  single-handed,  in  addition  to  business 
affairs,  correspondence,  and  evangelistic  excursions  with 
Mr.  Jones. 

It  would  have  been  possible,  of  course,  to  employ  a  heathen 
teacher  in  the  school  to  which  Mrs.  Taylor  gave  six  or  seven 
hours  daily  ;  and  they  might  also  have  taken  on  some  of 
the  inquirers  with  a  view  to  training  them  for  positions  of 
usefulness.  But  either  of  these  courses  would  have  been 
a  hindrance,  they  considered,  rather  than  a  help.  To  pay 
young  converts,  however  sincere,  for  making  known  the 
Gospel  must  inevitably  weaken  their  influence  if  not  their 
Christian  character.     Later  on  the  time  might  come  when 


OUR  JOY  AND  CROWN  OF  REJOICING      461 

the  call  of  God  to  such  service  would  be  evident  to  all  ; 
but  in  their  spiritual  infancy,  at  any  rate,  they  should  be 
left  to  grow  naturally  in  the  circumstances  in  which  God 
had  placed  them,  strengthened  by  the  very  trials  with 
which  they  found  themselves  surrounded. 

Meanwhile  special  faith  and  devotion  were  needed  to 
enable  the  missionaries  to  do  so  much  themselves.  And  in 
their  insufftciency,  God  worked,  bringing  them  in  contact 
with  hearts  ready  to  receive  the  Gospel,  and  giving  them 
as  their  children  in  the  faith  men  and  women  who  should 
become  soul-winners  and  in  the  fullest  sense  their  "joy 
and  crown  of  rejoicing." 

One  of  the  first  of  these  after  their  marriage  was  the 
basket-maker,  Fang  Neng-kuei.  Introduced  at  Bridge 
Street  by  his  friend  Mr.  Nyi,  there  was  a  something  about 
the  Christians  that  greatly  attracted  him.  Long  had  he 
been  seeking  peace  of  heart,  but  neither  in  the  ceremonies 
of  Buddhism  nor  the  philosophy  of  Confucius  had  he  found 
any  help.  He  had  even  attended  for  a  time  the  services  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  but  not  until  he  joined  the  httle 
circle  at  Bridge  Street  did  he  begin  to  understand  the  rest 
of  faith.  Then  nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  to  be  there 
every  night  as  soon  as  his  work  permitted,  following  eagerly 
all  that  was  said  and  done. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Taylor,  finding  his 
audiences  diminishing,  bethought  him  of  a  plan  to  arouse 
fresh  interest.  He  had  at  hand  a  set  of  coloured  pictures 
illustrating  the  Gospel  stories,  and  put  up  a  notice  to  the 
effect  that  these  would  be  on  view  at  the  evening  services, 
when  they  would  also  be  fully  explained.  The  result  was 
all  he  had  hoped,  for  the  Chinese  dearly  love  pictures  and 
stories. 

One  night  the  subject  was  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  the 
young  missionary  preached  with  more  than  ordinary 
freedom.  With  the  crowded  room  before  him  and  eager 
faces  peering  in  from  the  street,  one  can  well  imagine  how 
he  would  speak  on  the  experiences  of  the  wanderer  and  all 
the  father's  love.     The  thought  of  God  as  such  a  Father 


462  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

was  strangely  new  to  most  of  his  hearers,  and  when  at  the 
close  Mr.  Taylor  invited  any  who  wished  to  hear  more  to  stay 
behind  for  conversation  almost  the  whole  audience  re- 
mained. Among  the  most  interested  were  Neng-kuei  and 
two  friends  whom  he  had  brought  to  the  meeting.  Others 
drifted  out  by  degrees,  but  these  three  stayed  on,  and 
seemed  much  in  earnest  when  they  said  they  wished  to 
become  followers  of  Jesus. 

Mr.  Taylor  had  recently  started  a  night-school  in  which 
inquirers  might  learn  to  read  the  New  Testament  by  means 
of  Roman  letters.  This  exactly  suited  Neng-kuei  and  his 
friends,  and  for  some  time  they  were  regular  in  their  attend- 
ance. Then  it  began  to  be  rumoured  abroad  that  the 
basket-makers  were  becoming  Christians,  and  they  had  a 
good  deal  of  persecution  to  put  up  with.  This  of  course 
tested  the  reality  of  their  faith,  and  to  the  sorrow  of  the 
missionaries  first  one  and  then  another  ceased  to  come. 
Would  Neng-kuei  too  drift  away  ?  But  in  his  case  the 
work  proved  deep  and  real.  Persecution  only  brought  him 
out  more  boldly  as  a  "  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and 
ridicule  taught  him  to  defend  his  new-found  faith  in  such 
a  way  that  he  became  a  most  effective  preacher  of  the 
Gospel. 

But  Neng-kuei's  earnestness  in  making  known  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  was  due  to  something  deeper  than  external 
opposition.  He  was  a  man  called  of  God  to  a  special 
service,  and  placed  by  divine  providence  in  a  special  school. 
In  spite  of  more  than  one  fall  Hke  Peter's,  whom  he  closely 
resembled  in  character,  Neng-kuei  was  to  be  widely  used  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ.  Wherever  he  went  in  later  years, 
he  was  enabled  to  raise  up  little  churches  that  continued 
to  thrive  and  grow  under  the  care  of  others.  Neng-kuei 
was  not  one  who  could  long  minister  to  them  himself  ;  but 
he  reahsed  this,  and  was  always  ready  to  pass  on  to  new 
fields  when  his  special  work  was  done.  And  the  zeal  and 
devotion  that  characterised  him  must  be  attributed,  under 
God,  to  the  influences  by  which  his  Christian  life  was  formed 
and  nurtured. 

Few  though  they  were  in  number,  Hudson  Taylor  gave 


OUR  JOY  AND  CROWN  OF  REJOICING      463 

himself  to  the  j^oung  converts  at  this  time,  as  if  the 
evangeHsation  of  China  depended  upon  their  future  efforts. 
In  addition  to  all  his  other  work  he  devoted  several  hours 
daily  to  their  instruction.  Mr.  Jones  was  the  recognised 
Pastor  of  the  church,  and  the  Sunday  services  were  held  in 
his  house ;  ^  but  the  older  Christians,  several  of  whom  were 
already  baptized,  were  just  as  eager  to  attend  the  Bridge 
Street  classes  as  were  the  most  recent  inquirers. 

First  came  the  public  meeting  every  evening,  when  the 
little  hall  would  be  filled  with  more  or  less  regular  attendants  ; 
and  when  that  was  over,  and  outsiders  had  for  the  most 
part  withdrawn,  three  periods  were  given  to  regular  and 
carefully  considered  study. 

To  begin  with,  a  lesson  was  taken  from  the  Old  Testament, 
the  young  missionary  delighting  to  dwell  upon  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  its  matchless  stories  ;  then  a  chapter  was  read 
from  some  important  book,  frequently  the  Pilgrim  s  Progress ; 
and  finally  a  passage  from  the  New  Testament  was  talked 
over,  the  version  used  being  the  Romanised  colloquial. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Sunday  with  its  special  meetings, 
morning,  afternoon  and  evening,  was  made  the  very  most  of 
for  the  inner  circle.  It  cost  the  Christians  a  great  deal  to 
leave  their  regular  employments,  sacrificing  the  practical 
possibilities  of  one  day  in  seven.  It  was  perhaps  the 
hardest  thing  their  Christian  faith  required  of  them.  Yet 
the  command  was  plain,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy  "  ;  and  Mr.  Taylor  and  his  fellow-missionaries 
were  convinced  that  no  strong,  self -propagating  church 
could  be  built  on  any  other  basis.  So  they  constantly 
enjoined  upon  the  native  Christians,  by  teaching  and 
example,  the  requirements  of  Scripture  in  this  connection. 

And  as  due  compensation,  if  it  may  be  so  expressed,  they 
felt  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  make  the  sacrifice  worth 
while,  as  far  as  in  their  power  lay,  by  filling  the  hours  thus 
given  to  God  with  profitable  occupation.  In  addition, 
therefore,  to  the  regular  meetings,  they  had  two  periods  of 
teaching  after  the  fashion  of  the  American  Sunday  School, 

1  The  Kuen-kiao-teo  house  had  been  given  up  soon  after  Mr.  Taylor's 
marriage,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  were  now  living  in  a  purely  Chinese 
residence,  about  a  mile  from  Pridge  Street, 


464  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

when  old  and  young — Christians,  inquirers,  patients,  school- 
children and  servants — were  divided  into  classes  and 
taught  in  a  helpful,  personal  way.  This  made  Sunday  a 
heavy  day  for  the  missionaries,  of  whom  there  were  only 
four,  but  if  it  cost  some  toil  and  weariness  they  were  the 
better  able  to  appreciate  the  sacrifices  made  by  the  converts. 
Some  had  to  walk  long  distances  and  go  without  food  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  others  had  to  face  perse- 
cution and  financial  loss,  Neng-kuei,  for  example,  found 
that  it  cost  him  a  full  third  of  his  weekly  wages  to  attend 
the  meetings  on  Sunday.  He  was  a  skilled  workman,  and 
his  master  was  quite  willing  that  he  should  get  through  all 
there  was  to  be  done  in  six  days — provided  he  went  without 
pay  on  the  seventh.  If  it  gave  him  satisfaction  to  waste 
four  days  in  every  month  he  was  at  liberty  to  do  so,  only 
he  must  of  course  provide  his  food  on  those  occasions  and 
draw  wages  only  for  the  time  in  which  work  was  done. 
It  was  a  clever  arrangement  as  far  as  the  master  was  con- 
cerned, but  one  that  told  heavily  on  the  poor  basket-maker. 
Two  pence  a  day  and  his  food  had  been  little  enough  before, 
but  now  out  of  only  twelve  pence  a  week  (instead  of  fourteen) 
he  had  to  spend  two  or  three  on  provisions  for  Sunday — 
which  meant  a  total  lessening  of  his  hard-earned  income 
by  a  third.  But  he  was  willing,  quite  willing  for  this,  if 
only  he  could  have  the  Lord's  Day  for  worship  ;  and  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  richly  repaid  in  the  strength 
and  blessing  it  brought  him  all  through  the  week. 

Another  element  of  great  importance  in  the  training  of 
these  young  converts  was  the  emphasis  placed  on  reading 
for  themselves  the  Word  of  God.  This  it  was  that  brought 
out  the  exceeding  value  for  the  uneducated  among  them  of 
the  Romanised  version  of  the  Ning-po  New  Testament. 
For  the  local  dialect  differed  greatly  from  the  written 
language,  and  hence  the  more  literary  versions  were  unin- 
telligible to  the  majority.  But  there  was  no  one  who 
could  not  understand  the  Romanised  version.  It  was  a 
very  fair  translation,  direct  from  the  original  language, 
into  the  vernacular  in  everyday  use,  and  as  such  had  a 


OUR  JOY  AND  CROWN  OF  REJOICING      465 

special  charm  for  the  women,  who  could  soon  read  it  easily 
and  found  that  what  they  read  was  understood  by  others  ' 

Mrs.  Taylor  was  fully  one  with  her  husband  as  regards 
the  importance  of  teaching  every  inquirer  to  read,  including 
women  and  children,  and  gave  a  good  deal  of  time  to  pre- 
paring and  even  printing  on  her  own  printing-press  suitable 
hterature  in  the  Romanised  colloquial.  She  found  that  by 
the  use  of  this  system  a  child  of  ordinary  intelligence  could 
read  the  New  Testament  in  a  month.  Older  people  with 
less  time  at  their  disposal  might  take  longer  ;  but  even  for 
busy  women  it  was  no  difficult  task  ;  and  experience  proved 
that  those  who  accomplished  it  rarely  if  ever  failed  to  become 
Christians. 

Mrs.  Tsiu,  the  Teacher's  mother,  was  a  case  in  point. 
When  her  son  was  first  employed  at  Kuen-kiao-teo  she  was 
angered  and  distressed  by  his  interest  in  the  Gospel.  Read- 
ing the  Scriptures  daily  with  Mrs.  Jones  and  other  foreigners, 
he  had  a  good  opportunity  for  studying  the  practical  effects 
as  well  as  the  teachings  of  Christianity,  and  before  the 
missionaries  had  any  idea  that  a  deep  work  was  going  on 
in  his  heart,  the  young  Confucianist  had  become  a  humble 
follower  of  Jesus. 

"  May  I  purchase  a  New  Testament  ?  "  he  inquired  one 
day.     "  I  want  the  easy  kind,  printed  in  Roman  letters." 

"  But  you  can  read  Wen-li,"  replied  his  pupil.  "  Would 
you  not  rather  have  it  in  the  scholarly  character  ?  " 

"It  is  not  for  myself,"  said  the  young  man  earnestly, 
"  but  for  my  mother.  And  will  you  not  pray  that  she  may 
learn  to  read  it,  and  obtaining  heavenly  influences  may 
have  her  heart  changed  and  her  sins  forgiven  ?  " 

Full  of  thankfulness  over  the  conversion  of  the  son,  the 
missionaries  joined  him  in  earnest  prayer  for  his  mother, 
sharing  also  his  conviction  that  if  only  she  would  learn  to 
read  the  Gospels  she  too  would  love  and  believe  in  Jesus. 

And  so  it  proved.     For  though  Mrs.  Tsiu  refused  for  a 

1  Mr.  Taylor  spent  the  larger  part  of  his  first  furlough  (in  association 
with  the  Rev.  F.  F.  Gough)  in  carefully  revising  this  Romanised  New 
Testament,  and  supplying  it  with  marginal  references  :  a  work  which 
Archdeacon  Moule  of  Ning-po  stated  many  years  later  to  have  been  of 
''  the  greatest  value  to  Christians  throughout  the  province." 

2  II 


466  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

long  time  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  rehgion  of  the 
foreigners,  her  desire  to  be  able  to  read  at  last  won  the  day. 
She  was  flattered  by  her  son's  assurance  that  she  would 
soon  master  the  new  system  and  be  as  fluent  a  reader  as 
those  who  had  long  studied  character,  and  that  moreover 
everybody  would  understand  the  meaning  of  what  she  read. 
With  his  help  she  made  rapid  progress,  and  meanwhile  the 
message  of  the  book  was  doing  its  work  in  her  heart. 

Taking  her  stand  boldly  as  a  Christian,  Mrs.  Tsiu  was  a 
great  cheer  to  the  little  company  of  believers  all  through 
those  summer  months.  For  she  was  full  of  joy  and  courage. 
She  opened  her  house  for  a  weekly  prayer-meeting  which 
became  a  centre  of  blessing  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  reading  and  explaining  to  her 
neighbours  the  precious  Book  and  its  story. ^ 

This  was  of  course  a  great  encouragement  to  the 
missionaries,  and  quickened  their  zeal  for  the  instruction  of 
all  over  whom  they  had  any  influence.  The  burden  on 
their  hearts  increasingly  was  that  of  raising  up,  as  workers 
together  with  God,  a  band  of  native  evangelists  for  the  as 
yet  unreached  interior  of  China.  To  go  themselves  seemed 
for  the  time  being  out  of  the  question,  and  yet  the  country 
was  accessible  as  never  before.  The  Treaty  of  Tien-tsin 
signed  during  the  summer  had  opened  the  way  at  last  to  all 
the  inland  provinces.^  Foreigners  had  now  the  right  to 
travel  freely,  under  the  protection  of  passports,  and  it  only 
remained  to  make  use  of  the  facilities  for  which  they  had 
prayed  so  long. 

Tidings  brought  by  Lord  Elgin  of  his  recent  journey  with 

^  Those  were  red-letter  days  indeed  when  Neng-kuei  the  basket-maker 
and  the  Teacher's  mother  were  baptized  and  received  into  the  Uttle  Church. 
This  took  place  on  August  15  and  29,  Sundays  when  the  Chapel  of  the 
American  Baptist  Mission  was  available.  Mrs.  Tsiu  was  the  first  Chinese 
woman  Mr.  Taylor  had  ever  baptized,  and  his  address  on  the  reproach  of 
Christ  as  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt  came  from  a  full  heart. 

^  This  Treaty,  signed  on  June  26,  1858,  was  of  the  utmost  importance 
in  our  relations  with  China.  It  contained  excellent  provisions,  such  as  the 
right  of  maintaining  an  Ambassador  at  Peking,  freedom  for  foreigners  to 
travel  in  the  interior  of  China,  and  toleration  for  Christianity,  so  that 
"  persons  teaching  it  or  professing  it  should  alike  be  entitled  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Chinese  authorities."  But  alas,  under  the  Tariff  Supple- 
ment, it  also  contained  a  clause  legalising  the  importation  of  opium,  against 
which  the  Chinese  had  striven  so  long ! 


OUR  JOY  AND  CROWN  OF  REJOICING      467 

a  view  to  testing  the  new  order  of  things  were  deeply  stirring. 
No  hindrance  had  been  put  in  his  way  as  he  steamed  slowly 
up  the  Yangtze,  six  hundred  miles  to  the  newly-opened 
Port  of  Hankow,  the  commercial  metropolis  of  central  China. 
Nothing  was  to  prevent  foreigners  from  settling  there  now — 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  as  well  as  Government  officials  and 
merchants — and  many  were  the  missionaries  who  longed  to 
enter  that  open  door. 

"  You  will  have  heard  before  this  all  about  the  new  Treaty,"  wrote 
Mr.  Taylor  in  November.  "  We  may  be  losing  some  of  our  Ning-po 
missionaries  .  .  .  who  will  go  inland.  And  oh,  will  not  the  Church 
at  home  awaken  and  send  us  out  many  more  to  publish  the  Glad 
Tidings  ? 

"  Many  of  us  long  to  go — oh  how  we  long  to  go  !  But  there  are 
duties  and  ties  that  bind  us  that  none  but  the  Lord  can  unloose.  May 
He  give  '  gifts  '  to  many  of  the  native  Christians,  qualifying  them  .  .  . 
for  the  care  of  churches  already  formed,  .  .  .  and  thus  set  us  free 
for  pioneering  work." 

Nothing  else,  nothing  less  would  have  kept  Hudson 
Taylor  and  his  young  wife  from  proceeding  at  once  to  the 
interior.  But  the  claims  of  that  little  band  of  believers 
could  not  be  set  aside.  They  were  their  own  children  in 
the  faith,  and  though  not  a  large  family  as  yet  were  just  at 
the  stage  when  they  most  needed  watchful  care.  It  was  to 
their  love,  their  prayers,  these  souls  had  been  committed, 
and  to  leave  them  now,  even  for  the  good  of  others,  would 
have  been  to  disregard  that  highest  of  all  trusts,  parental 
responsibility.  And  they  were  right  in  this  conviction,  as 
the  blessing  of  God  abundantly  proved. 

For  these  Christians,  Nyi,  Neng-kuei  and  the  rest,  were 
men  whom  the  Lord  could  use.  Poor  and  unlearned  like 
most  of  the  first  disciples,  they  too  were  to  become  "  fishers 
of  men."  No  less  than  six  or  seven,  indeed,  of  the  converts 
gathered  about  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  this  winter  were  to 
come  to  their  help  in  later  years  as  fellow-workers  in  the 
China  Inland  Mission.^     But  for  them  the  planting  of  that 

^  The  labours  of  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  her  devoted  son,  of  Nyi  the  cotton- 
merchant,  Neng-kuei^the  basket-maker,  Wang  the  farmer  and  Wang  the 
painter  (see  next  chapter),  not  to  speak  of  Loh  Ah-tsih  and  others,  can 
never  be  forgotten.     It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  services  of 


468  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

little  seed  amid  so  many  difficulties  would  have  been  almost 
impossible  and  much  of  its  promise  might  never  have  come 
to  fruition. 

Already  in  the  winter  of  1858-1859  there  were  signs  that 
rejoiced  the  missionaries  in  the  midst  of  much  to  try  both 
faith  and  love.  But,  even  so,  they  little  realised  the  im- 
portance of  the  influence  they  were  exercising,  directly  and 
indirectly.  What  they  were  themselves,  in  the  deepest 
things,  this  to  a  large  extent  their  children  in  the  faith 
became  ;  and  there  is  no  better,  surer  way  of  passing  on 
spiritual  blessing. 

"  Imitators  of  us  and  of  the  Lord." 

"  Those  thing  which  ye  have  both  learned,  and  received, 
and  seen,  and  heard  in  me,  do  :  and  the  God  of  peace  shall 
be  with  you." 

Thus  it  was  the  Lord  trained  His  own  disciples  in  the 
three  wonderful  years  ;   and  thus  it  must  be  still  to-day. 

that  little  band  in  connection  with  the  earliest  stations  of  the  Mission — 
services  extending  over  ten,  twenty,  forty  and  even  fifty  years,  and 
ending  in  unclouded  testimony  to  the  glory  of  God. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX 

FISHERS   OF   MEN 

1858-1859.     Aet.   26. 

Among  all  the  characteristics  caught  by  the  converts  from 
their  missionaries  at  this  time,  none  was  more  important  in 
its  results  than  love  for  souls — that  sure  evidence  of  a  heart 
in  fellowship  with  the  Lord  Himself.  When  this  is  not 
found  in  the  missionary  is  it  ever  developed  in  his  native 
helpers  ?  And  can  anything  make  up  for  its  absence  in 
either  the  one  or  the  other  ?  Learning,  eloquence,  natural 
gifts,  all,  all  go  up  in  the  balances  as  lighter  than  nothing, 
if  not  permeated  with  this  supreme  endowment. 

"  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  have  not  love,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass,  or  as  a 
tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
and  understand  all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge,  and  though 
I  have  all  faith  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have 
not  love,  I  am  nothing." 

But  in  the  little  home  on  Bridge  Street,  in  spite  of  all 
that  may  have  been  deficient  on  less  important  lines,  there 
was  no  lack  of  love — love  for  God  and  love  for  man — the 
essential  qualification  for  leading  men  to  God.  Nyi  was  a 
soul- winner,  Neng-kuei  was  a  soul-winner,  and,  to  go  no 
farther,  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  her  son  were  soul-winners  in  the 
good,  old-fashioned  meaning  of  the  term.  They  believed 
in  heaven  and  they  believed  in  hell,  and  longed  to  bring 
those  around  them  to  the  Saviour  whose  blood  alone 
cleanses  "  from  all  sin." 

No  sooner  had  Mrs.  Tsiu  learned  to  read,  as  we  have 

469 


470  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

seen,  than  she  longed  to  share  with  her  neighbours  the 
blessings  of  the  Gospel.  Taking  her  precious  Testament 
wrapped  in  a  coloured  handkerchief,  many  were  the  hours 
she  spent  in  going  from  courtyard  to  courtyard,  reading 
to  women  at  their  sewing,  and  telling  the  old,  old  story  to 
all  who  would  listen.  She  was  a  welcome  visitor,  and 
made  the  most  of  her  opportunities  for  being  useful.  But 
there  was  one  old  woman  who  seemed  beyond  her  reach. 
Very  deaf  and  almost  blind,  she  could  think  of  nothing  but 
her  troubles,  and  had  long  ago  given  up  hope  of  better 
things.  Yet  there  was  love  and  rest  for  her  in  Jesus  ;  and 
with  earnest  prayer  the  Teacher's  mother  set  about  winning 
this  poor,  dark  soul  to  Him.  But  what  a  difficult  task 
it  was,  when  every  word  had  to  be  shouted  into  her  ear, 
and  she  could  not  catch  the  love-light  in  the  speaker's 
eyes  ! 

This  only  made  it  the  more  wonderful,  when  the  darkened 
mind  at  length  was  penetrated  with  some  gleam  of  light 
from  above.  She  consented  then  to  go  to  the  Mission- 
house,  and  was  conscious  in  its  very  atmosphere  of  a  peace 
she  had  never  known. 

"  Why  does  my  heart  feel  so  much  wider,"  is  the  oft- 
repeated  question,  "  when  I  come  inside  these  doors  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Tsiu  taught  her  syllable  by  syllable/'  wrote  Mr.  Taylor, 
"  to  repeat  verses  of  hymns  and  passages  of  Scripture,  .  .  .  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  made  the  Word  eflfectual  to  her  conversion.  Much 
prayer  and  many  persevering  efforts  were  rewarded  as  new  light,  new 
love,  sprang  up  within  her.  Now  she  had  found  something  to  think 
of,  now  she  had  a  Friend  to  converse  with,  now  she  had  comfort  both 
for  time  and  for  eternity.  A  happier  Christian  than  that  old  woman 
I  have  seldom  if  ever  met.  She  loved  the  house  of  God,  she  loved  the 
people  of  God.  In  fair  weather  or  in  wet,  in  hot  weather  or  in  cold, 
she  was  to  be  found  leaning  on  the  shoulder  of  her  grandchild,  and 
wending  her  way  to  the  meetings,  some  of  which  were  more  than  a 
mile  from  her  home.  She  could  see  nothing  and  hear  nothing,  but 
she  met  with  God  and  He  blessed  her ;  she  met  with  His  people,  and 
their  hearty  salutations  did  her  good. 

"  After  a  time  she  was  taken  ill,  and  all  believed  that  she  was  about 
to  die.  She  was  very  happy,  especially  in  the  thought  that  she  would 
be  neither  blind  nor  deaf  in  heaven.  One  day,  however,  some 
neighbours,  to  whom  she  had  been  talking  about  the  Lord,  jeeringly 


FISHERS  OF  MEN  471 

replied  that  she  should  pray  to  Him,  since  He  was  such  a  wonderful 
Saviour,  to  raise  her  up  to  health  again.  Left  alone,  she  pondered  the 
matter  until  convinced  that  her  recovery  in  answer  to  prayer  would 
be  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  upon  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  another  friend  coming 
in  she  told  them  about  it,  and  requested  them  to  kneel  down  and  pray 
that  she  might  be  raised  up. 

"This  they  willingly  did,  asking  God  for  the  honour  of  His  own  great 
Name  to  make  her  well ;  and  the  old  woman  added  her  Amen  to  the 
prayer  she  knew  had  been  offered  though  she  heard  it  not.  Within  a 
few  days  she  was  in  her  usual  health,  and  to  m.y  astonishment  took  her 
accustomed  place  in  one  of  the  meetings.  And  not  until  a  year  later 
did  she  finish  her  course  with  joy." 

Meanvi^hile  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  her  son  were  rejoicing  over 
another  soul  they  had  been  permitted  to  win  for  Jesus. 
He  was  an  old  man  and  had  seen  many  sorrows,  for  his  sons 
had  turned  out  badly  and  through  evil  ways  had  ruined  the 
family  fortunes.  Dying  early,  they  had  left  their  parents 
to  the  sorrow  and  disgrace  of  a  childless,  poverty-stricken 
old  age.  Scarcely  can  there  be  in  China  a  sadder  lot,  and 
old  Dzing  as  he  peddled  his  wares  thought  bitterly  of  the 
days  when  he  had  been  well-to-do  and  respected.  Now  he 
must  travel  the  streets  with  a  pack  on  his  back,  depending 
for  a  livehhood  upon  the  odds  and  ends  he  could  sell  for 
women's  embroidery  and  children's  caps  and  shoes.  Only 
at  night  when  every  door  was  shut  could  he  turn  home- 
ward to  the  miserable  room  where  little  comfort  awaited 
him. 

Persuaded  by  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  her  son  to  accompany  them 
to  Bridge  Street,  a  new  interest  had  found  its  way  into  his 
once  dreary  existence.  So  this  was  the  meaning  of  the 
change  he  had  noticed  in  the  very  faces  of  his  friends  ! 
They  had  something  worth  living  for  ;  something  that 
could  turn  sorrow  into  joy  and  brighten  even  the  shadows 
of  the  tomb.     It  was  a  great  discovery. 

Many  an  evening  was  now  spent  in  the  inquirers'  classes, 
the  old  intelligence  waking  up  in  response  to  their  helpful 
influences.  It  restored  his  self-respect  to  be  addressed  as 
"  Teacher  Dzing  "  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  the 
classics,  and  appealed  to  from  time  to  time  for  the  name 
or  meaning  of  a  character.     But  a  deeper  work  was  going 


472  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

on  within  him,  under  the  touch  of  a  Hand  that  brought 
deeper  heahng. 

"  As  a  poor,  helpless  sinner,"  Mr.  Taylor  wrote,  "  he 
cast  himself  upon  God's  forgiving  mercy,  and  found  peace 
in  believing." 

His  love  for  the  Bible  was  great,  and  he  spent  every 
available  moment  over  its  pages.  Perhaps  it  was  this  that 
made  his  Christian  life  so  restful.  Wherever  he  went  he 
carried  a  blessing  with  him,  and  many  a  woman  on  a  back 
street  first  heard  the  message  of  redeeming  love  from  his  lips. 

Neng-kuei,  too,  from  the  very  first  was  a  soul- winner. 
Not  unlike  Peter  in  his  fervent,  devoted  spirit,  he  also  was 
used  to  bring  the  message  of  salvation  to  seeking  souls 
whose  prayers  were  known  to  God  alone.  One  such  was 
daily  traversing  the  streets  of  Ning-po  at  this  time,  in  search 
of  a  religion  of  which  he  knew  nothing  save  that  it  would 
bring  him  peace  ;  and  but  for  a  great  trial  coming  into 
Neng-kuei's  life,  he  might  have  been  long  without  finding  it. 

It  was  the  busy  season  for  basket-makers,  and  Neng- 
kuei's  master  insisted  that  he  must  work  on  Sunday.  It 
was  no  use  reminding  him  of  his  agreement,  or  suggesting 
that  he  should  call  in  additional  help.  No,  this  idea  of 
resting  one  day  in  seven  was  all  very  well  for  foreigners, 
but,  now  there  was  work  to  be  done,  Neng-kuei  must  be 
broken  of  it. 

"  Come  to-morrow,  or  not  at  all,"  was  his  ultimatum. 
And  the  Christian  basket-maker  knew  himself  dismissed. 

Nor  was  this  the  worst  of  it.  For  on  Monday  morning, 
when  he  set  about  seeking  other  employment,  every  door 
was  closed.  No  one  wanted  workmen,  busy  season  though 
it  was,  and  Neng-kuei  tramped  the  city  in  vain. 

"The  devil  is  having  hard  at  me,"  thought  he  at  last; 
"  but  I  must  and  will  resist  him.  If  he  will  not  let  me 
have  other  employment,  I  will  give  my  time  to  plucking 
souls  from  his  kingdom." 

And  this  he  did  by  spending  the  rest  of  the  day  in  dis- 
tributing tracts,  and  talking  in  the  streets  and  tea-shops 
with  all  who  were  inclined  to  listen. 


FISHERS  OF  MEN  473 

Far  away  from  Ning-po,  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Feng-hwa  river,  lay  the  farming  district  from  which  Neng- 
kuei  himself  had  come.  There  he  had  learned  his  trade 
and  married  the  young  wife  from  whom  he  had  been  parted 
in  little  more  than  a  year.  Her  death  had  been  terrible — 
a  death  in  the  dark,  like  so  many  thousands,  alas,  in  China 
every  year  !  Poor  Neng  -  kuei  could  speak  no  word  of 
comfort  as  she  was  passing  from  him  in  anguish  and  fear. 
And  still  there  was  no  voice  to  tell  among  all  those  hills 
and  valleys  of  Jesus  and  His  redeeming  love. 

The  basket-maker  drifted  to  Ning-po  a  little  later,  and 
there  found,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Light  of  Life  ;  but  who 
was  to  care  for  Wang  the  farmer,  in  the  little  village  of 
0-zi,  when  he  became  concerned  about  eternal  things  ? 

Not  far  from  Neng-kuei's  former  home  he  lay  ill  and 
apparently  dying,  alone  in  the  empty  house.  The  family 
were  all  out  in  the  fields,  having  supplied  his  needs  as  well 
as  they  could  ;  and  there  was  no  one  to  whom  he  could 
turn  for  help  in  the  great  distress  of  his  soul.  For  Wang 
regarded  death  with  terror,  as  introducing  the  dreaded  day 
on  which  he  must  "  reckon  up  accounts."  Somehow, 
somewhere,  he  must  meet  the  gods  his  sins  had  angered  ; 
and  the  balance  to  his  credit  was  pitifully  small.  Whether 
his  heart  went  out  in  a  longing  cry  for  mercy  we  cannot 
tell.  At  any  rate  his  need  was  great,  and  he  was  dimly 
conscious  of  it. 

And  then  a  strange  thing  happened.  In  the  silence 
of  the  empty  house  he  heard  himself  called.  The  voice 
though  unknown  was  so  real  that  he  got  up  and  made  his 
way  to  the  door,  but  on  opening  it  could  see  no  one.  Pain- 
fully he  crept  back  to  bed,  only  to  hear  the  same  voice 
a  little  later  calling  more  urgently.  Again  he  rose,  and, 
supporting  himself  by  the  walls  and  furniture,  managed  to 
reach  the  door.  But  again  no  one  was  in  sight.  Greatly 
alarmed,  he  buried  his  face  beneath  the  coverlet.  This 
was  none  other  than  the  approach  of  death  ! — the  dreaded 
summons  of  the  King  of  Hell,  at  whose  bar  he  must  shortly 
appear. 

And  now  the  voice  spoke  a  third  time,  and  told  him  not 


474  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

to  be  afraid.  He  was  going,  it  said,  to  recover.  An  in- 
fusion of  a  certain  herb  would  cure  his  sickness,  and  as  soon 
as  he  was  able  he  was  to  go  into  Ning-po,  where  he  would 
hear  of  a  new  religion  that  would  bring  him  peace  of  heart. 

All  this  was  so  reassuring  that  Wang  determined  to  do 
exactly  as  he  was  instructed.  He  persuaded  his  wife  to 
prepare  the  medicine,  and  to  the  surprise  of  all  began 
forthwith  to  recover.  Going  to  Ning-po,  however,  was 
another  matter.  The  city  was  thirty  miles  away,  and 
Wang  had  nothing  to  live  on  while  seeking  the  new  religion. 
His  farm-produce  he  could  not  carry  with  him,  and  besides 
it  was  all  needed  at  home.  The  only  plan  would  be  to  work 
for  his  living  ;  and  finally  the  farmer  set  out  to  support 
himself  by  cutting  grass  along  the  wayside  and  seUing  it  to 
people  who  had  cattle. 

Thus  he  had  managed  to  earn  a  scanty  subsistence  in 
Ning-po  for  some  time,  without  finding  anything  that  met 
the  longings  of  his  heart.  Under  the  city-wall  and  amid 
the  many  grave-mounds  he  gathered  a  supply  of  grass  day 
by  day,  which  he  sold  in  the  city,  but  no  one  paid  much 
attention  to  his  questions  about  religious  matters.  Still, 
Wang  was  sure  that  what  the  voice  had  told  him  would 
come  true. 

At  length  one  day  in  a  tea-shop — what  was  that  he 
heard  ?  A  simple  working-man  like  himself  was  leaning 
across  one  of  the  tables,  talking  with  those  nearest  him. 
Something  about  "  the  Jesus-doctrine  "  he  said,  and  about 
sins  being  forgiven.  Greatly  interested  Wang  drew  nearer, 
and  listened  for  the  first  time — try  to  imagine  it — to  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation. 

Neng-kuei's  heart  was  full  that  day,  and  he  spoke  long 
and  earnestly.  Some  went  out  and  some  came  in,  but  the 
0-zi  farmer  never  lost  a  word.  When  Neng-kuei  had 
finished  he  introduced  himself,  and  asked  many  questions. 
Seeing  his  interest  Neng-kuei  said  : 

"  You  must  draw  water  yourself  from  the  fountain. 
There  is  a  book  God  has  given  us  in  which  everything  is 
made  plain.  You  shall  have  a  copy  and  study  the  matter 
fuUy." 


FISHERS  OF  MEN  475 

"  Alas,"  replied  the  farmer,  "  I  do  not  know  how  to  read, 
and  I  am  now  too  old  to  learn  !  " 

"  Far  from  it  !  "  exclaimed  his  new-found  friend.  "  For 
with  the  Glad  Tidings  an  easy  melhod  of  reading  has  been 
brought  to  us.  I  did  not  know  a  single  character  when  I 
became  a  Christian,  but  now  I  can  read  the  New  Testament 
quite  easily.  If  you  like  I  will  be  your  teacher.  Let  us 
begin  at  once  !  " 

Wang  needed  no  second  invitation.  It  did  not  take 
long  to  move  his  few  belongings  to  the  house  in  which  the 
basket-maker  lodged,  and  before  the  sun  went  down  he  had 
mastered  the  first  six  letters  of  the  alphabet,  besides  acquir- 
ing a  much  fuller  knowledge  of  spiritual  things.  And  how 
happy  they  were  over  the  lesson  !  It  is  doubtful  whether 
anywhere  in  the  city  there  were  more  thankful  hearts, 
for  had  not  the  farmer  found  the  treasure  he  had  been 
seeking,  and  Neng-kuei  a  new  jewel  to  lay  at  his  Master's 
feet? 

No  doubt  they  prayed  together  that  evening  over  Neng- 
kuei's  difficulty  in  obtaining  employment,  for  which  a 
sufficient  reason  was  found  the  following  day.  His  former 
master,  angered  by  his  adherence  to  Christian  principles, 
had  sent  round  to  all  the  basket-makers  of  the  city  asking 
that  if  this  particular  workman  applied  to  them  on  Monday 
morning  they  would  turn  him  away.  As  members  of  the 
same  Guild  they  had  thought  it  best  to  comply.  But  the 
promise  was  for  Monday,  not  for  subsequent  days  ;  and  the 
first  employer  to  whom  he  went  on  Tuesday  was  glad 
enough  to  engage  the  clever  workman.  So  Neng-kuei's 
troubles,  too,  were  happily  ended ;  and  his  new  master 
living  not  far  from  Bridge  Street,  he  was  able  to  run  in 
during  the  breakfast-hour  and  tell  his  missionary  friends  all 
that  had  happened. 

Introduced  in  this  way  to  the  farmer  from  0-zi,  Mr. 
Taylor  hardly  knew  at  first  what  to  make  of  his  story.  But 
as  time  went  on  the  sincerity  of  the  man  became  apparent 
to  all.  He  remained  in  Ning-po  for  some  months,  still 
supporting  himself  as  a  grass-cutter,  and  when  he  returned 
to  0-zi  it  was  to  set  apart  the  best  room  in  his  house  as  a 


476  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

little  chapel,  in  which  for  fifty  years  he  lovingly  and  faith- 
fully made  known  the  Gospel. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  time  Neng-kuei  was  enabled, 
through  fidelity  to  Christian  principle,  to  win  a  soul  destined 
to  become  specially  useful  in  winning  others.  Another  man 
named  Wang  was  living  in  Ning-po  at  the  time  who  was  yet 
to  be  numbered  among  the  Bridge  Street  Christians,  and  to 
exceed  them  all  in  the  fruitfulness  of  his  labours.  But  as 
yet  he  knew  nothing  of  the  Master  he  was  to  love  and 
serve. 

A  busy  workman,  employed  from  morning  till  night  in 
painting  and  decorating  houses,  how  was  he  to  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  Gospel  ?  He  had  no  time  to  Hsten  to 
preaching,  though  he  seems  to  have  been  religiously  inclined, 
and  was  no  frequenter  of  tea-shops,  his  own  home  being  at 
hand  with  the  attractions  of  wife  and  infant  child.  So 
the  Lord,  who  had  chosen  him  for  His  service,  sent  across 
his  pathway  one  whom  He  could  trust  to  be  faithful  in  little 
things,  and  who  "  in  season  and  out  of  season  "  would 
deliver  His  message. 

It  was  a  beautiful  house  young  Wang  was  in  that  day, 
decorating  one  of  the  guest-halls.  Presently  a  stir  began — 
servants  came  hurrying  from  the  inner  apartments,  a  man 
with  a  load  of  baskets  was  ushered  in,  and  several  ladies, 
richly  dressed,  came  out  to  give  their  orders.  Of  all  this 
the  painter  on  his  scaffolding  took  little  notice,  but  when 
the  ladies  began  to  speak  in  tones  of  some  annoyance  he 
pricked  up  his  ears  to  listen. 

"  What  !  Not  make  baskets  for  holding  incense  ? 
Refuse  an  order  for  anything  to  be  used  in  the  service  of 
the  gods  ?  " 

"  Do  not  be  angry,  ladies,"  replied  the  simple  basket- 
maker.  "  I  am  sorry  not  to  comply  with  your  wishes,  but 
I  cannot  make  or  sell  anything  for  the  worship  of  idols." 

"  And  pray,  why  not  ?  "  was  the  astonished  question. 

"  I  am  a  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus,"  Neng-kuei  answered 
respectfully  ;  "a  worshipper  of  the  true  and  living  God." 
And  he  went  on  to  put  before  these  ladies,  who  might  never 


FISHERS  OF  MEN  477 

hear  again,  the  way  of  pardon  and  peace  through  a  dying, 
risen  Saviour. 

"  What  was  that  you  were  saying  ?  " 

The  ladies  had  grown  tired  of  listening,  and  had  tottered 
away  on  their  tiny  feet,  but  Neng-kuei's  attention  was 
arrested,  as  he  was  about  to  leave,  by  a  man  in  working 
clothes,  who  went  on  earnestly  : 

"  You  did  not  see  me.  I  am  painting  up  there,"  indi- 
cating his  ladder.  "  What  was  it  you  were  saying  ?  I 
heard,  but  tell  me  again." 

That  conversation,  too,  we  are  left  to  imagine.  We  only 
know  that  Wang  Lae-djiin  took  the  first  step  that  day  in  a 
lifetime  of  devoted  service  to  the  Master. 


CHAPTER  XL 

WHAT   HATH   GOD   WROUGHT 

February-August  1859.     Aet.  26-27. 

It  was  February  9,  and  in  a  darkened  room  Hudson  Taylor 
knelt  beside  the  bed-side  of  his  dying  wife.  Only  a  few 
weeks  had  elapsed  since  the  New  Year  dawned  upon  their 
perfect  happiness,  and  now — was  she  to  be  taken  from 
him,  and  his  life  shadowed  with  irreparable  loss  ?  Internal 
inflammation,  the  result  apparently  of  chiU,  had  brought 
her  so  low  that  life  seemed  ebbing  fast  away,  and  every 
remedy  the  physicians  could  suggest  had  proved  unavailing. 

Elsewhere  in  the  city  the  united  prayer-meeting  was 
going  on,  and  the  knowledge  that  others  were  praying  with 
him  upheld  the  lonely  watcher  as  nothing  else  could  have 
done.  Noting  with  anguish  the  hollow  temples,  sunken 
eyes,  and  pinched  features,  all  indicating  the  near  approach 
of  death,  Hudson  Taylor  was  indeed  "  shipwrecked  upon 
God."  Faith  was  the  only  spar  he  had  to  cHng  to  ;  faith 
in  the  Will  that  even  then  was  perfect  wisdom,  perfect  love. 

Kneeling  there  in  the  silence — how  was  it  that  new  hope 
began  to  possess  his  heart  ?  A  remedy  !  They  had  not 
tried  it.  He  must  consult  Dr.  Parker  as  quickly  as  possible. 
But  would  she,  could  she  hold  out  until  he  came  back  again  ? 

"  It  was  nearly  two  miles  to  Dr.  Parker's,"  he  wrote,  "  and  every 
moment  appeared  long.  On  my  way  thither,  while  wrestling  mightily 
with  God  in  prayer,  the  precious  words  were  brought  with  power  to 
my  soul,  '  Call  upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble  :  I  will  deliver  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  glorify  Me.'  I  was  enabled  at  once  to  plead  them  in  faith, 
and  the  result  was  deep,  deep  unspeakable  peace  and  joy. 

478 


WHAT  HATH  GOD  WROUGHT  479 

"  All  consciousness  of  distance  was  gone.  Dr.  Parker  approved  the 
use  of  the  means  suggested  ;  but  upon  arriving  at  home  I  saw  at  a 
glance  that  the  desired  change  had  taken  place  in  the  absence  of  this 
or  any  other  remedy.  The  drawn  aspect  of  the  countenance  had 
given  place  to  the  calmness  of  tranquil  slumber,  and  not  one  unfavour- 
able symptom  remained  to  retard  recovery." 

The  Great  Physician  had  been  there.  His  Presence  had 
rebuked  the  approach  of  death.  His  touch  had  once  again 
brought  healing. 

This  experience  of  what  the  Lord  could  and  would  do  for 
His  people  in  answer  to  believing  prayer  was  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  Hudson  Taylor  ever  had,  and  strengthened 
him  for  many  an  emergency  including  those  of  the  summer 
near  at  hand.  Never  could  he  forget  those  days  and  hours 
in  which  it  seemed  as  though  the  Lord  were  saying  :  "  Son 
of  man,  I  take  from  thee  the  desire  of  thine  eyes  at  a  stroke." 
But  it  was  not  on  his  home  the  sore  affliction  fell. 

Very  refreshing,  after  this  dangerous  illness,  was  a  visit 
to  the  new  hospital  outside  the  city.  For  Dr.  Parker's 
building  operations  were  finished,  including  chapel,  dis- 
pensary, and  dwelling-house,  and  he  had  accommodation 
for  European  as  well  as  Chinese  patients  and  guests.  Every- 
thing was  new,  fresh,  and  attractive,  and  the  house  itself, 
standing  back  a  little  from  the  river,  was  crowned  with  a 
watch-tower  commanding  a  view  of  unusual  interest. 

"  The  situation  of  Dr.  Parker's  new  hospital/'  wrote  Dr.  W.  A.  P. 
Martin  about  this  time,  "  is  the  best  that  could  have  been  selected  in 
the  vicinity  of  this  port.  Separated  on  the  one  hand  from  the  impure 
atmosphere  of  the  city  by  the  city-wall,  and  removed  on  the  other 
from  the  noisome  exhalations  of  the  paddy-fields  by  the  breadth  of  the 
river,  it  enjoys  the  best  air  that  blows  over  the  plain  of  Ning-po.  Close 
to  one  of  the  city  gates,  near  a  much-frequented  ferry,  and  overlooking, 
too,  a  river  which  is  the  main  thoroughfare  from  the  sea-coast  to  many 
large  cities  in  the  interior,  its  handsome  and  commodious  buildings 
daily  attract  the  notice  of  thousands  of  passers-by. 

"  The  number  of  in-patients  is  already  so  large  as  nearly  to  fill  the 
neat  little  chapel  which  the  doctor  has  erected  as  a  dispensary  for  the 
soul.  They  form  the  nucleus  of  a  very  interesting  congregation,  to 
which  I  have  preached  several  times ;   and  the  probability  of  their 


48o  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

obtaining  permanent  good  is  the  greater  as  they  remain  many  weeks 
together,  receiving  daily  instruction  in  divine  truth." 

It  was  delightful  to  see  how  much  had  been  accomplished 
by  the  courage  and  perseverance  with  which  the  Doctor  had 
worked  at  his  long-cherished  plan,  raising  within  three  years, 
without  help  from  his  Society,  this  well-equipped  medical 
mission. 

"  May  the  Lord  who  has  aided  me  thus  far,"  he  wrote, 
"  now  use  all  for  the  advancement  of  His  cause  and  the 
glory  of  His  Name." 

Four  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  1855, 
when  Dr.  Parker  and  his  young  colleague  had  been  writing 
home  about  their  "  plans  of  usefulness."  How  differently 
everything  had  turned  out  from  their  expectations  !  And 
yet,  with  these  commodious  buildings  round  them  repre- 
senting so  important  a  work.  Dr.  Parker  must  have  felt 
thankful  that  he  had  not  remained  in  Shanghai ;  and 
Hudson  Taylor,  as  he  thought  of  the  Christians  in  the  city, 
and  the  loved  one  given  and  spared  to  him  in  answer  to 
prayer,  could  not  but  overflow  with  gratitude  and  praise. 
It  was  all  they  had  hoped  or  dreamed,  only  better — "  our 
plans  of  usefulness,"  but  with  added  elements  of  blessing 
they  could  never  have  devised,  much  less  brought  to  pass. 

"  Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord ;  trust  also  in  Him.  .  .  . 
Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord,  and  He  shall  give  thee 
the  desires  of  thine  heart." 

"  Yesterday  (February  28)  was  a  glad  day  for  us,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor 
whUe  still  at  Dr.  Parker's,  "  for  our  servant  who  has  been  with  us 
almost  ever  since  our  marriage  was  received  into  the  Church  by 
baptism,  as  well  as  a  woman  who  works  for  Mrs.  Jones.  We  have  now 
eight  native  Christians  in  communion  with  us,  of  whom  the  second 
(Mr.  Tsiu)  was  baptized  a  year  ago  yesterday.  Truly  we  may  say  with 
thankfulness,  '  what  hath  God  wrought ! '  "  ^ 

"  I  am  very  busy,"  he  continued  after  their  return  to  the  city. 
"  So  many  patients,  meetings,  and  other  matters  need  attention  that 

1  Seven  baptisms  within  a  year  was  cause  indeed  for  thanksgiving, 
representing  as  it  did  fully  as  much  of  prayer,  labour  and  progress  as 
would  ten  times  that  number  in  the  same  localities  to-day.  One  Mission 
then  in  Ning-po,  after  fifteen  years  of  faithful  labour,  had  a  Church  Roll 
of  only  twenty  members  ;  though  another,  not  quite  so  long  in  the  field, 
had  considerably  more. 


WHAT  HATH  GOD  WROUGHT  481 

I  am  puzzled  which  to  take  up  first.  ...  Our  work  here  is  becoming 
more  important  day  by  day,  as  God  is  adding  to  our  numbers. 
May  His  great  work  go  on,  and  the  multitudes  of  China  yet  see'  a 
glorious  day  when  in  every  part  of  th's  populous  empire  .  .  .  the 
saved  of  the  Lord  shall  be  many." 

Thus  spring-time  came  again,  and  in  April  a  little  holiday 
was  taken,  that  proved  most  beneficial  in  view  of  the  difficult 
smnmer  before  them.  Travelling  in  houseboats  with  Dr. 
Parker  and  his  family,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  spent  a  week 
among  the  Western  Hills,  covered  at  this  season  with 
azaleas,  hawthorn,  dwarf  hlac,  wistaria  and  violets. 

"  The  quiet  retirement,"  wrote  one  whose  name  has  long  been 
associated  with  Ning-po,  "  the  blue  heavens  above  and  the  green  hills 
around,  the  sound  of  rippling  brook  or  singing  bird,  the  flash  of  summer 
lightning,  the  echoing  storm,- the  cry  of  roaming  deer  at  night,  the 
indescribable  beauty  of  the  carpet  of  flowers  in  spring-time  are  pleasant 
and  refreshing  sights  and  sounds  indeed  after  the  toil,  dust,  and 
oppressiveness  of  a  great  city."  ^ 

Leaving  their  boats  the  little  party  explored  some  of 
the  side  streams,  tracing  one  almost  to  its  source  by  means 
of  light  rafts  of  bamboo. 

"  The  scenery  was  very  beautiful,"  Mr.  Taylor  wrote  to  his  mother, 
"  Waterfalls  abound,  one  of  which  leaps  seven  hundred  feet  in  a  sheer 
descent,  and  another  that  we  saw  about  six  hundred.  .  .  .  The  views 
above,  below,  and  around  were  wonderful  .  .  .  something  to  be 
remembered  for  a  lifetime." 

Great  was  the  contrast  on  their  return  to  Ning-po  with 
the  heat  and  manifold  distresses  of  that  summer.  Following 
upon  the  floods  of  the  previous  year  came  an  unusually  hot 
season,  and  at  the  same  time  a  wave  of  anti-foreign  feeling 
swept  over  the  city,  due  to  daring  outrages  perpetrated  in 
connection  with  the  coohe-traffic,  which  was  "  rapidly 
assuming  all  the  features  of  the  African  slave-trade." 
Hitherto  its  ravages  had  been  confined  to  the  Southern 
provinces,  but  now  men  and  lads  were  disappearing  from 
this  region  also,  carried  off  on  foreign  ships  to  the  plantations 

1  The  Yen.  Arthur  E.  Moule,  B.D.,  Archdeacon  in  Mid-China  and 
C.M.S.  Missionary  at  Ning-po.  Quoted  from  The  Story  of  the  Cheh-kiang 
Mission,  p.  76. 

21 


482  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

of  Cuba  and  South  America,  most  of  them  never  to  return. 
And  these  outrages  were  the  more  alarming  because  of  their 
connection  in  the  minds  of  the  people  with  the  renewal  of 
hostihties  between  China  and  the  AUied  Powers.^ 

"  You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor  in  the  middle 
of  August,  "  that  while  God  is  granting  us  blessing,  Satan  is  mani- 
festing his  malice.  Owing  to  the  kidnapping  villainies  of  those  engaged 
in  the  coohe  traffic — forcibly  seizing  villagers,  and  carrying  them 
off  in  sacks  to  their  vessels — public  excitement  has  reached  a  very  high 
pitch.  Rumours  have  been  circulated  that  these  persons  are  being 
seized  at  the  instance  of  the  '  defeated  British,'  who  wish  to  reinforce 
their  numbers  and  again  attack  Tien-tsin.  Violent  incendiary  papers 
have  been  posted  up,  and  our  lives  and  property  have  been  in  imminent 
danger.  The  excitement  is  decreasing  a  Httle  now,  and  we  hope  the 
worst  is  over,  as  the  people  know  that  measures  are  being  taken  by  the 
foreign  authorities  to  search  to  the  bottom  of  this  disgraceful  affair." 

But  before  this  letter  was  written  and  a  measure  of 
tranquillity  restored,  the  missionary  household  in  Bridge 
Street  had  passed  through  some  anxious  hours.  As  many 
Europeans  as  possible  had  left  the  city,  taking  shelter  in  the 
Settlement  or  on  foreign  vessels,  but  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor 
would  not  leave  the  native  Christians,  whose  danger  was 
little  less  than  their  own. 

Those  were  days  in  which  the  young  husband  could  not 
but  long  for  quiet  and  the  blessed  sense  of  security  that 
would  have  meant  so  much  to  the  one  dearer  to  him  than 
Hfe.  Protect  her  he  could  not  from  the  knowledge  of 
surrounding  danger,  but  taking  such  precautions  as  were 
possible  he  stayed  his  heart  on  God.  It  was  not  much 
that  could  be  done  to  facilitate  escape,  should  it  be  necessary. 
A  boat  lay  in  readiness  at  the  back  door,  and  a  rope  was 

'  For  the  Treaty  of  Tien-tsin,  signed  in  June  of  the  previous  summer, 
was  to  have  been  ratified  at  Peking  a  year  later.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
the  fleet  of  nineteen  vessels  representing  the  Allies  (England,  France,  Russia 
and  America)  they  were  attacked  in  the  mouth  of  the  Pei-ho  river  and 
driven  back  with  considerable  loss  ;  and  the  capture  of  Peking  itself  was 
necessary  before  the  Chinese  Government  reahsed  that  they  must  carry 
out  their  terms  of  surrender.  The  Treaty  was  finally  ratified  in  October 
i860.  In  August  of  the  following  year  the  heart-broken  Emperor  (Hien- 
feng)  died.  The  ratification  of  these  Treaties  had  swept  away  the  barriers 
he  had  so  long  striven  to  maintain  against  the  importation  of  opium, 
which,  from  this  time,  alas  !  spread  with  fatal  rapidity  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 


i 


Photograph  J'V  «  Chinese. 

THE  BEDROOM  WINDOW,  MARKED  WITH  A  X,  WHICH  WOULD  HAVE  AFFORDED 
MR.  AND  MRS.  TAYLOR  THEIR  OXLY  WAY  OF  ESCAPE,  IN  THE  EVENT  OF 
A    NIGHT    ATTACK    ON    THE    BRIDGE    STREET    PREMISES. 

To  face  page  483. 


WHAT  HATH  GOD  WROUGHT  483 

strongly  fastened  in  their  bedroom  window  by  means  of 
which  it  might  be  possible  to  reach  the  canal  under  cover  of 
darkness.  But  fuU  well  he  knew  the  complications  that 
might  arise,  and  it  would  have  been  a  time  of  agonising 
suspense  but  for  the  peace  of  God. 

For  it  was  then,  and  under  those  circumstances,  the  hopes 
of  many  a  long  month  were  fulfilled,  and  the  little  daughter 
came  to  them  for  whom  they  could  find  no  sweeter,  truer 
name  than  Grace. 

"  My  dear  Parents,"  wrote  the  father  a  week  later,  "  though  this 
is  the  Lord's  Day  I  find  myself  able  to  pen  a  few  lines,  which  will  no 
doubt  surprise  you  as  much  as  it  does  myself.  The  reason  is  that  I 
am  at  home  taking  care  of  my  wife  and  baby-girl— your  first  grand- 
child !  Oh,  my  dear  Parents,  God  has  been  so  good  to  me,  to  us  all ! 
better  far  than  my  fears.  '  0  magnify  the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us 
exalt  His  Name  together  ! '  " 

The  thermometer  was  at  104°  F.  in  the  coolest  part  of 
the  house  when  on  July  31  this  little  one  was  born,  and 
once  only  in  the  week  that  followed  did  it  drop  as  low  as 
88° — at  midnight,  during  a  thunderstorm.  So  that  this 
period  was  not  without  its  trials.  But  the  worst  had  been 
averted,  although  for  a  few  hours  it  came  very  near. 

Surging  crowds  about  the  mission-house  had  almost 
broken  into  a  riot  a  few  days  previously,  while  cries  of 
"  Beat  the  foreigner,"  "  Kill  the  foreign  devils,"  rent  the 
air.  In  some  wonderful  way,  however,  a  restraint  was  on 
the  people,  and  no  attempt  was  made  to  batter  in  the  doors, 
easy  as  it  would  have  been. 

And,  if  anything,  more  wonderful  still  was  the  peace  in 
which  the  mother's  heart  was  kept,  both  before  and  after. 
"  Notwithstanding,  the  Lord  stood  with  me  and  strengthened 
me,"  was  indeed  true  in  her  experience.  Nothing  retarded 
her  recovery,  and  so  conscious  was  she  of  the  inflow  of 
divine  grace  for  every  need  that  she  would  not  have  been 
without  the  trials  that  revealed  to  her  new  depths  of  the 
heart  of  God. 

The   dangers   did   not   pass   away   for  some   time,   and 


484  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

combined  with  the  intense  heat  might  well  have  proved 
overwhelming. 

"  We  feel  that  we  are  living  only  from  night  to  day  and  day  to 
night/'  wrote  Mr.  Jones,  who  also  remained  in  the  city.  "  The  people 
are  thirsting  for  revenge.  .  .  .  They  mix  up  together  missionaries, 
traders,  and  the  government,  the  war,  and  the  coolie  traffic,  .  .  .  and 
say  that  the  kidnapped  Chinese  are  put  in  the  front  of  the  fight  against 
their  own  Emperor.  .  .  .  They  have  placarded  the  streets  calling  for 
our  blood ;  one  of  the  foremost  in  all  this  being  a  man  who  supplies 
the  Mandarins  with  buckets  to  contain  the  heads  of  the  decapitated, 
a  fearfully  large  trade  here. 

"  We  are  now,  as  I  write,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  our  wives  and  our 
little  ones  in  the  same  danger.  But  we  are  resting  on  Him  who 
restrains  our  enemies  with  '  Thus  far,  but  no  further '  ;  and  who  to 
us  is  saying,  '  I  will  never  leave  thee.'  He  has  made  His  Word  very 
precious  to  our  hearts,  .  .  .  and  even  in  these  trying  times  we  have 
been  encouraged  by  some  inquiring  the  way  of  salvation." 

For  the  work  of  God  went  on,  and  was  more  deep  and 
real  for  the  testing  through  which  the  converts  had  to  pass. 
Wang  the  grass-cutter,  for  example,  who  was  accepted  for 
Church-membership  in  August,  was  frequently  upbraided 
on  the  streets  for  casting  in  his  lot  with  the  Christians. 
His  simple  faith,  however,  was  proof  against  all  attacks. 
When  told  that  foreigners  were  at  war  with  his  country, 
and  were  carrying  off  people  to  make  them  fight  against 
their  own  Emperor,  he  would  say  : 

"  There  must  be  a  mistake  somewhere.  Satan  surely 
has  blinded  your  eyes.  These  missionaries  do  not  fight 
at  all.  They  heal  the  sick,  relieve  suffering,  and  show  us 
the  way  of  eternal  happiness.  Nothing  but  good  can  come 
of  joining  them." 

And  from  this  position  he  was  not  to  be  moved. 

That  he  really  knew  the  Lord  was  very  evident  to  those 
who  watched  his  life  at  this  time. 

"  I  think  much  of  heaven  and  Jesus,"  he  said  to  Mr. 
Taylor  one  day,  "  the  weather  is  so  hot." 

"  Indeed,"  replied  his  friend,  waiting  to  hear  more. 

"  You  see,"  he  continued,  "  I  have  to  cut  grass  out  in 
the  burning  sun,  and  sometimes  I  hardly  know  how  to  keep 


WHAT  HATH  GOD  WROUGHT  485 

on.     And  then  I  think  of  Jesus— Jesus  and  heaven— and 
my  mind  becomes  peaceful  and  my  body  so  much  rested 
that  I  can  do  twice  as  much  as  before.     Oh,  it  is  wonderful 
the  difference  it  makes  when  you  just  think  of  Jesus  1  " 
And  so  the  missionaries  found  it  too. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

A  WEALTHY   PLACE 

August-December  1859.     Aet.  27. 

Spared  thus  in  the  mercy  of  God  the  loss  of  his  own  loved 
one,  Hudson  Taylor  felt  the  more  deeply  for  Dr.  Parker 
when  the  angel  of  death  visited  his  home.  With  scarcely 
any  warning,  on  August  26,  Mrs.  Parker  was  stricken  with 
dangerous  illness,  and  passed  away  at  midnight  leaving  four 
little  ones  motherless.  The  young  missionaries  at  Bridge 
Street  did  what  they  could  to  come  to  the  help  of  their 
friend,  and  others  were  ready  with  practical  sympathy, 
but  the  shock  proved  too  much  for  the  bereaved  husband. 
One  of  the  children  was  seriously  ill,  and  amid  the  difficulties 
of  his  changed  position  the  doctor  began  to  realise  how 
much  his  own  health  was  impaired  by  five  years  spent  in 
China.  He  had  neither  heart  nor  strength  for  added  burdens 
and  decided  before  long  to  take  his  family  home  to  the  care 
of  relatives  in  Scotland. 

But  what  about  the  medical  mission,  outcome  of  so  much 
prayer  and  labour  ?  The  hospital  was  full  of  patients,  and 
the  dispensary  crowded  day  by  day  with  a  constant  stream 
of  people,  all  of  whom  needed  help.  No  other  doctor  was 
free  to  take  his  place,  and  yet  to  stop  the  work  seemed  out 
of  the  question  with  the  winter  coming  on.  How  would  it 
be,  in  default  of  better  arrangements,  to  ask  his  former 
colleague,  Hudson  Taylor,  to  continue  the  dispensary  at 
any  rate  ?  He  was  quite  competent  for  this,  and  with  the 
hospital  closed  would  not  have  much  financial  responsibility. 

The  suggestion,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  came  as  a  great 

486 


A  WEALTHY  PLACE  487 

surprise  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  sent  them  to  their 
knees  in  earnest  prayer.  All  they  wanted  was  to  know 
the  Lord's  will  in  the  matter,  and  as  they  waited  upon  Him 
for  guidance  it  was  clearly  given,  but  in  a  direction  they 
little  anticipated. 

Yes,  the  dispensary  must  be  kept  open  ;  and  more  than 
that,  the  hospital  must  not  be  closed.  The  Lord  had  given 
them  helpers  just  suited  for  such  an  emergency — a  band  of 
native  Christians  who  would  rally  round  them  and  make 
the  most  of  the  opportunities  which  the  hospital  especially 
afforded.  And  as  to  funds,  or  lack  of  funds — for  Dr.  Parker 
had  very  little  to  leave — the  work  was  not  theirs  but  the 
Lord's.  To  close  it  on  account  of  the  small  balance  in 
hand  would  practically  mean  that  prayer  had  lost  its  power, 
and  if  so  they  might  as  well  retire  from  the  field.  No,  for 
the  good  of  the  native  Christians,  the  strengthening  of  their 
own  faith  and  the  comfort  and  blessing  of  many,  they  must 
go  forward,  and  above  all  for  the  glory  of  God. 

"  After  waiting  upon  the  Lord  for  guidance/'  wrote  Hudson  Taylor, 
"  I  felt  constrained  to  undertake  not  only  the  dispensary  but  the 
hospital  as  well,  relying  solely  on  the  faithfulness  of  a  prayer-hearing 
God  to  furnish  means  for  its  support. 

"  At  times  there  were  no  fewer  than  fifty  in-patients,  besides  a 
large  number  who  daily  attended  the  dispensary.  Thirty  beds  were 
ordinarily  allotted  to  free  patients  and  their  attendants,  and  about 
as  many  more  to  opium-smokers  who  paid  for  their  board  while  being 
cured  of  the  habit.  As  all  the  wants  of  the  sick  in  the  wards  were 
supplied  gratuitously,  as  well  as  the  medical  appliances  needed  for 
the  out-patient  department,  the  daily  expenses  were  considerable.  A 
number  of  native  attendants  also  were  required,  involving  their  support. 

"The  funds  for  the  maintenance  of  all  this  had  hitherto  been  supplied 
by  the  proceeds  of  the  doctor's  foreign  practice,  and  with  his  departure 
this  source  of  income  ceased.  But  had  not  God  said  that  whatever 
we  ask  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  done  ?  And  are  we  not 
told  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God— not  means  to  advance  it— and 
that  "  all  these  things  "  shall  be  added  to  us  ?  Such  promises  were 
surely  sufficient." 

Strong  therefore  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  inward  assurance 
of  His  call  to  this  enlarged  service,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor 
prepared  to  move  over  to  Dr.  Parker's.     The  care  of  the 


488  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Bridge  Street  Christians  remained  in  the  hands  of  their 
beloved  colleague  Mr,  Jones,  who  from  the  first  had  been 
Pastor  of  the  little  Church,  and  cordial  indeed  was  the 
prayer  and  sympathy  with  which  all  its  members  endorsed 
the  action  of  their  missionaries. 

To  Mrs.  Taylor,  as  she  thought  over  it  all,  it  must  have 
seemed  very  wonderful,  this  sudden  change  that  brought 
her  husband  into  a  position  of  usefulness  he  was  so  well 
qualified  to  fill.  They  had  sought  nothing  for  themselves, 
but  in  going  about  their  work  had  quietly  Hved  down 
misunderstandings,  leaving  their  reputation  in  the  hands 
of  God.  And  now  He  had  led  them  out  into  "  a  wealthy 
place,"  putting  them  in  charge  of  a  work  second  to  none  in 
Ning-po  in  its  importance,  and  the  common  meeting-ground 
of  all  the  other  missions. 

Looking  across  the  river  to  the  Presbyterian  Compound, 
Mrs.  Taylor  could  not  but  recall  a  conversation  of  the 
previous  summer,  to  which  she  alludes  in  the  following 
letter. 

NiNG-po,  September  30,  1859. 

My  dear  Mother — Hudson  has  again  been  prevented  from  writing 
to  you,  which  makes  the  fourth  fortnightly  mail  since  he  was  able  to 
send  off  a  letter.  I  hope  you  will  not  ...  I  know  you  will  not  .  .  . 
begin  to  think  that  his  dear  little  daughter  is  winning  his  heart  away 
from  his  beloved  parents.  If  he  could  steal  some  hours  from  the  night 
he  would  do  so,  as  he  often  has  before,  but  his  occupations  leave  him 
none  to  steal.  He  comes  upstairs  usually  between  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock,  tired  out  with  the  long  day's  work,  and  after  resting  a  little 
down  he  goes  again  to  see  some  of  his  patients  or  make  up  medicine 
for  others. 

You  will  no  doubt  be  surprised  at  my  speaking  of  patients  in  this 
way,  but  perhaps  still  more  so  when  I  mention  that  Dr.  Parker  is 
leaving  his  hospital  in  dear  Hudson's  care.  A  few  months  ago  I  was 
walking  with  a  frjend  (Mrs.  M'Cartee)  in  one  of  the  gardens  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission,  when  she  said  : 

"  Do  you  know  what  I  prophesy  ?  That  in  a  few  years  Dr.  Parker 
will  be  taking  his  family  home,  and  that  you  and  Mr.  Taylor  will  come 
to  live  in  his  large  house  and  carry  on  the  work." 

I  reminded  her  that  Hudson  was  not  a  qualified  medical  man,  and 
said  I  did  not  think  we  should  ever  live  outside  of  the  city. 

Little  could  we  have  imagined  that  in  a  few  short  months  Dr. 


Photograph  by 


G.  Whitfield  Guinness^ 


ENTRANCE  TO  DR.  PARKER'S  PREMISES. 


One  of  the  hospital  buildings  just  showing  on  the  left,  and  the  doctor's  house  on  the  right- 
Through  the  farther  doorway  may  be  seen  the  river  and  part  of  the  foreign  settlement. 

To  face  page  489, 


A  WEALTHY  PLACE  489 

Parker  would  be  on  his  way  home  with  his  motherless  children,  and 
that  we  should  be  in  his  house  and  Hudson  taking  charge  of  his  work. 

She  herself,  far  though  she  was  from  supposing  it,  was 
one  of  the  most  important  elements  in  his  success  at  this 
time.  For  God  works  through  human  means,  and  but  for 
his  wife  and  Chinese  helpers  this  winter  could  never  have 
been  what  it  was  in  Hudson  Taylor's  experience  and  in  the 
annals  of  the  Ning-po  hospital.  Thoroughly  competent  to 
undertake  the  direction  of  their  enlarged  establishment, 
Mrs.  Taylor  relieved  him  of  account-keeping,  correspondence 
and  all  household  cares,  managing  the  servants  and  to  a 
certain  extent  the  staff  so  admirably  that  his  strength  was 
conserved  for  the  medical  and  spiritual  part  of  the  work. 
She  even  found  time  to  do  a  good  deal  in  the  wards  herself, 
especially  among  the  women  patients,  and  spent  many  an 
hour  caring  both  for  body  and  soul  in  the  dispensary. 

"  Her  influence  over  the  patients,"  wrote  her  husband,  "  was 
great  and  most  beneficial.  They  saw  and  felt  that  there  must  be 
something  deserving  of  attention  in  the  religion  that  led  an  English 
lady  to  labours  so  peculiar  and  naturally  repulsive.  Over  her  domestics, 
too,  she  exerted  an  influence  only  to  be  won  by  genuine  sympathy 
and  continuous  efforts  for  their  good.  She  looked  upon  them  not  so 
much  as  persons  paid  for  serving  her,  but  as  persons  brought  under 
her  care  that  she  might  seek  to  lead  them  to  Christ.  She  encouraged 
and  helped  them  to  learn  to  read  and  had  some  of  them  taught  to 
write,  and  not  a  few  who  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  were  connected 
with  her  in  this  way  came  to  know  and  love  the  Master  she  so  faithfully 
served.  .  .  . 

"  She  was  accustomed  to  take  real  comfort  from  a  heart- felt  belief 
in  the  overruling  providence  of  God  in  small  as  well  as  great  matters. 
If  His  Word  said  '  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered,'  she 
did  not,  could  not  doubt  it.  She  was  accustomed,  too,  to  seek  His 
counsel  in  all  things,  and  would  not  write  a  note,  pay  a  call,  or  make 
a  purchase  without  raising  her  heart  to  God." 

In  the  same  way  he  too  drew  upon  divine  resources. 
Outwardly  he  was  carrying  on  a  great  work  ;  inwardly  he 
was  conscious  of  a  great  cry  to  Him  without  whom  it  could 
not  be  sustained  for  a  moment.  Had  he  been  depending 
upon  man  for  help,  he  would  have  waited  until  the  need 
could  be  made  known  before  assuming  such  heavy  responsi- 


490  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

bilities.  But  it  had  come  about  so  suddenly  that  no  one 
at  any  distance  was  aware  of  the  position  or  could  be  more 
prepared  than  he  himself. 

"  Eight  days  before  entering  upon  the  care  of  the  Ning-po  hospital," 
wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  I  had  not  the  remotest  idea  of  ever  doing  so  ; 
still  less  could  friends  at  home  have  foreseen  the  need." 

But  the  Lord  had  anticipated  it,  and  already  His  pro- 
vision was  on  the  way,  as  events  were  happily  to  prove. 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  young  missionary  upon 
assuming  independent  charge  of  the  hospital  was  to  call 
together  the  assistants  and  explain  the  real  state  of  affairs. 
Dr.  Parker,  as  he  told  them,  had  left  funds  in  hand  for  the 
expenses  of  the  current  month,  but  little  more.  After  this 
provision  was  used  up  they  must  look  to  the  Lord  directly 
for  supplies  ;  and  it  would  not  be  possible  to  guarantee 
stated  salaries,  because  whatever  happened  he  would  not  go 
into  debt.  Under  these  circumstances,  any  who  wished  to 
do  so  were  at  liberty  to  seek  other  employment,  though  he 
would  be  glad  of  their  continued  service  if  they  were  pre- 
pared to  trust  the  simple  promises  of  God. 

This  condition  of  things,  as  Mr.  Taylor  had  expected, 
led  all  who  were  not  decided  Christians  to  withdraw  and 
opened  the  way  for  other  workers.  It  was  a  change  Dr. 
Parker  had  long  desired  to  make,  only  he  had  not  known  how 
to  obtain  helpers  of  a  different  sort.  But  Mr.  Taylor  did  ; 
and  with  a  greatly  lightened  heart  he  turned  to  the  little 
circle  that  at  this  critical  juncture  did  not  fail  him.  For 
to  the  Bridge  Street  Christians  it  seemed  quite  as  natural  to 
trust  the  Lord  for  temporal  as  for  spiritual  blessings.  Did 
not  the  greater  include  the  less  ?  And  was  He  not,  as  their 
"  Teachers  "  so  often  reminded  them,  a  real  Father,  who 
never  could  forget  His  children's  needs  ?  So  to  the  hospital 
they  came  ;  glad  not  only  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  their 
missionary  friends,  but  to  prove  afresh  both  to  themselves 
and  all  concerned  the  loving-kindness  of  God. 

Some  worked  in  one  way  and  some  in  another  ;  some 
giving  freely  what  time  they  could  spare,  and  others  giving 


A  WEALTHY  PLACE  491 

their  whole  time  without  promise  of  wages,  though  receiving 
their  support.  And  all  took  the  hospital  and  its  concerns 
upon  their  hearts  in  prayer. 

No  wonder  a  new  atmosphere  began  to  permeate  dis- 
pensary and  wards  !  Account  for  it  the  patients  could  not 
— at  any  rate  at  first — but  they  enjoyed  none  the  less  the 
happy,  homelike  feeling,  and  the  zest  with  which  everything 
was  carried  on.  The  days  were  full  of  a  new  interest.  For 
these  attendants — Wang  the  grass-cutter  and  Wang  the 
painter,  Nyi,  Neng-kuei  and  others — seemed  to  possess  the 
secret  of  perpetual  happiness,  and  had  so  much  to  impart ! 
Not  only  were  they  kind  and  considerate  in  the  work  of  the 
wards,  but  all  their  spare  time  was  given  to  teUing  of  One 
who  had  transformed  life  for  them,  and  who  they  said  was 
ready  to  receive  all  who  came  to  Him  for  rest.  Then  there 
were  books,  pictures  and  singing.  Everything  indeed 
seemed  set  to  song  !  And  the  daily  meetings  in  the  Chapel 
only  made  one  long  for  more. 

There  are  few  secrets  in  China,  and  the  financial  basis 
upon  which  the  hospital  was  now  run  was  not  one  of  them. 
Soon  the  patients  knew  all  about  it,  and  were  watching 
eagerly  for  the  outcome.  This  too  was  something  to  think 
and  talk  about ;  and  as  the  money  left  by  Dr.  Parker  was 
used  up  and  Hudson  Taylor's  own  supplies  ran  low,  many 
were  the  conjectures  as  to  what  would  happen  next.  Need- 
less to  say  that  alone  and  with  his  little  band  of  helpers 
Hudson  Taylor  was  much  in  prayer  at  this  time.  It  was 
perhaps  a  more  open  and  m  that  sense  crucial  test  than  any 
that  had  come  to  him,  and  he  realised  that  the  faith  of  not 
a  few  was  at  stake  as  well  as  the  continuance  of  the  hospital 
work.  But  day  after  day  went  by  without  bringing  the 
expected  answer. 

At  length  one  morning  Kuei-hua  the  cook  ^  appeared  with 
serious  news  for  his  master.  The  very  last  bag  of  rice  had 
been  opened,  and  was  disappearing  rapidly. 

"  Then,"  replied  Hudson  Taylor,  "  the  Lord's  time  for 
helping  us  must  be  close  at  hand." 

1  This  was  the  same  valued  servant  who  had  been  with  Mr.  Taylor 
in  Shanghai,  Tsung-ming  and  elsewhere  ;  and  who  was  now  a  bnght 
Christian. 


492  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

And  so  it  proved.  For  before  that  bag  of  rice  was 
finished  a  letter  reached  the  young  missionary  that  was 
among  the  most  remarkable  he  ever  received. 

It  was  from  Mr.  Berger,  and  contained  a  cheque  for 
fifty  pounds,  like  others  that  had  come  before.  Only  in  this 
case  the  letter  went  on  to  say  that  a  heavy  burden  had 
come  upon  the  writer,  the  burden  of  wealth  to  use  for  God. 
Mr.  Berger's  father  had  recently  passed  away,  leaving  him 
a  considerable  increase  of  fortune.  The  son  did  not  wish 
to  enlarge  his  personal  expenditure.  He  had  had  enough 
before,  and  was  now  praying  to  be  guided  as  to  the  Lord's 
purpose  to  what  had  taken  place.  Could  his  friends  in 
China  help  him  ?  The  bill  enclosed  was  for  immediate 
needs,  and  would  they  write  fully,  after  praying  over  the 
matter,  if  there  were  ways  in  which  they  could  profitably 
use  more  ? 

Fifty  pounds  !  There  it  lay  on  the  table  ;  and  his  far-off 
friend,  knowing  nothing  about  that  last  bag  of  rice  or  the 
many  needs  of  the  hospital,  actually  asked  if  he  might  send 
them  more.  No  wonder  Hudson  Taylor  was  overwhelmed 
with  thankfulness  and  awe.  Suppose  he  had  held  back 
from  taking  charge  of  the  hospital  on  account  of  lack  of 
means,  or  lack  of  faith  rather  ?  Lack  of  faith — with  such 
promises  and  such  a  God  ! 

There  was  no  Salvation  Army  in  those  days,  but  the 
praise-meeting  held  in  the  chapel  fairly  anticipated  it  in  its 
songs  and  shouts  of  joy.  But  unhke  some  Army  meetings 
it  had  to  be  a  short  one,  for  were  there  not  the  patients  in 
the  wards  ?  And  how  they  listened — these  men  and 
women  who  had  known  nothing  all  their  lives  but  blank, 
empty  heathenism  ! 

"  Where  is  the  idol  that  can  do  anything  like  that  ?  " 
was  the  question  upon  many  lips  and  hearts.  "  Have  they 
ever  delivered  us  in  our  troubles,  or  answered  prayer  after 
this  sort  ?  " 


MR.    WILLIAM    T.    TiERGER    OF    EAST    (iRINSTKAD    AXI»    OF    CAXNKS. 


The  first  Home  Director  of  the  Chiiui  Inhiml  Mi.ssioii,  auii  tliroiigliout  life  its  valiie<l  ami  most 
generous  frieml. 

To  fact  page  402. 


CHAPTER  XLII 

ABOVE   ALL  THAT   YE   ASK   OR   THINK 

January  -July  i860 ;  and  Onwards. 

Nothing  is  more  contagious  than  spiritual  joy,  when  it  is 
the  real  thing,  and  of  this  there  was  abundance  in  the 
Ning-po  hospital  that  winter.  For  answers  to  prayer  were 
many,  in  connection  with  other  than  financial  needs.  There 
were  critical  cases  of  illness  in  which  life  was  given  back 
when  every  hope  seemed  gone ;  there  were  operations 
successfully  performed  under  unfavourable  conditions,  and 
patients  restored  from  long  and  hopeless  suffering.  And 
best  of  all  there  were  dead  souls  brought  to  hfe  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  slaves  of  sin  set  free,  so  that  within  nine  months 
sixteen  patients  had  already  been  baptized  and  more  than 
thirty  others  were  enrolled  as  candidates  for  admission  to 
one  or  other  of  the  Ning-po  Churches. 

This  did  not  come  all  at  once,  it  need  hardly  be  said 
but  only  as  the  result  of  unremitting  prayer  and  labour. 
One  man  from  the  hospital  was  desiring  baptism  by  the 
end  of  October.  In  November  there  were  four  new  candi- 
dates for  Church-membership.  More  than  six  hundred 
out-patients  were  treated  before  the  end  of  the  year,  and 
sixty  in-patients  had  been  for  longer  or  shorter  periods 
under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel.  A  new  glow  of  spiritual 
life  and  love  pervaded  everything.  All  felt  it,  and  Mr. 
Taylor  was  able  to  write  : 

Truly  the  Lord  is  with  us,  and  is  blessing  us  abundantly.^ 

1  This  was  on  February  13,  i860,  when  to  his  parents  he  wrote  :    "You 
wiU  rejoice  to  hear  that  on  the  5th  inst.  we  received  five  men  into  our 

493 


494  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

And  in  the  midst  of  it  all  came  the  home-going  of  the 
first  of  that  little  group  to  be  called  into  the  presence  of  the 
Lord — the  first  death,  one  may  almost  put  it,  in  connection 
with  the  China  Inland  Mission,  or  at  any  rate  with  its 
forerunner.  And  when  one  thinks  how  many  thousands 
shine  and  shall  yet  shine  in  eternal  glory  through  the  labours 
of  that  widened  circle,  a  quite  peculiar  interest  invests  this 
first  passing-over. 

It  was  dear  old  Dzing  to  whom  the  summons  came,  and 
the  closing  days  of  the  year  were  bright  with  his  beautiful 
end. 

"  He  was  upwards  of  sixty  years  of  age,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor^  "  and 
it  was  only  during  the  last  twelve  months  of  his  life  that  he  found  the 
Saviour." 

But  it  was  a  good  year,  and  going  about  with  his  pedlar's 
pack  he  was  a  messenger  of  glad  tidings  to  many  who  but 
for  him  would  never  have  heard. 

In  the  chilly  days  of  December  he  fell  ill  with  bronchitis, 
and  Mr.  Taylor  had  him  brought  to  the  hospital.  There 
in  a  warm,  dry  room,  very  different  from  his  own  quarters, 
he  was  encompassed  with  kindness.  His  gratitude  was 
touching,  and  as  the  end  drew  near,  the  spirit  in  which  he 
met  it  made  a  profound  impression  on  those  about  him. 

His  difficulty  in  breathing  was  great  at  times,  and  it  was 
hard  not  to  be  impatient. 

"  If  only  the  Lord  would  take  me  !  "  he  exclaimed  again 
and  again. 

"  He  wdll,"  replied  his  missionary  friend,  "  just  as  soon 
as  you  are  ready.  He  loves  you  better  far  than  we  do,  and 
will  not  let  you  suffer  a  moment  longer  than  He  sees  needful. 
He  wants  you  to  trust  Him,  and  be  willing  to  wait  His  time. 
Will  you  show  your  love  for  Him  by  being  patient,  even 
in  this  ?  " 

It  was  a  difficult  lesson,  but  he  was  given  grace  to  learn 

little  Church,  to  whom  I  had  the  privilege  of  administering  the  Lord's 
Supper  yesterday.  .  .  .  We  have  now  therefore  eleven  men  and  six 
women  in  fellowship  with  us,  though  one,  I  regret  to  say  (dear  Neng-kuei), 
is  suspended  for  the  present.  May  God  grant  him  speedy  restoration. 
To-morrow  we  are  to  have  a  Church-meeting,  D.  V.,  to  consider  the  cases  of 
other  candidates,  twelve  in  all,  I  believe." 


ABOVE  ALL  THAT  YE  ASK  OR  THL\K   495 

it,  and,  wonderful  to  say,  never  again  showed  any  sign  of 
impatience. 

"  To-morrow  is  the  Lord's  Day,"  he  said  on  New  Year's 
Eve,  "  but  I  shall  not  be  able  to  join  in  worship." 

When  reminded  that  the  Lord  was  just  as  near  him  on 
his  bed  of  sickness,  and  that  he  could  praise  Him  there  in 
a  way  specially  to  His  glory,  he  seemed  comforted  and 
said  : 

"  Yes,  it  is  so.  He  promised  never  to  leave  me,  and  He 
never  has  ;   and  soon  will  take  me  to  Himself." 

During  the  day — New  Year's  Day — he  was  failing  fast, 
but  enjoyed  passages  of  Scripture  read  to  him  at  his  own 
request,  including  the  twenty-third  Psalm.  Hymns  also 
gave  him  pleasure,  especially  a  translation  of 

Who  are  these  in  white  array. 
Brighter  than  the  noonday  sun  ? 

"  I  shall  soon  shine  too,"  whispered  the  dying  saint, 
"  but  all  the  praise  v^dll  belong  to  Jesus." 

After  the  evening  service  he  received  with  much  affection 
some  of  the  Christians  who  came  to  see  him,  and  pleaded 
earnestly  with  his  wife  to  turn  to  the  Lord.  Then  losing 
consciousness  a  little  he  seemed  to  be  seeking  something. 

"  What  do  you  want.  Elder  Brother  ?  "  inquired  one  of 
those  beside  him.  Opening  his  eyes  with  a  smile  he  slowly 
but  distinctly  said,  "  Jehovah  my  Shepherd,"  and  soon 
after  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

But  it  all  told,  this  blessed  work,  upon  those  whose 
hearts  were  in  it.  "  Nothing  without  the  cross  "  is  true 
above  all  in  spiritual  things,  and  for  Hudson  Taylor  the 
price  that  had  to  be  paid  was  that  of  health,  almost  of  life 
itself.  Six  years  in  China,  six  such  years,  had  left  their 
mark  ;  and  now,  under  the  strain  of  day  and  night  work 
in  the  hospital,  entailing  much  exposure  to  wintry  weather, 
strength  was  failing  fast. 

But  in  a  sense  his  work  was  completed — or  the  pre- 
paration, rather,  for  which  he  had  been  sent  to  China. 
"  Whosoever  will  be  great  among  you  shall  be  your  minister ; 


496  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

and  whosoever  of  you  will  be  chief  est,  shall  be  servant  of 
all."  "He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least  is  faithful 
also  in  much."  "  Faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make 
thee  ruler  over  many." 

Not  that  any  thought  of  large  developments  was  in 
Hudson  Taylor's  mind  as  he  faced  the  probability  that  he 
must  return  to  England  before  long.  He  was  conscious  only 
of  two  things — great  and  growing  opportunities  on  the  one 
hand,  and  rapidly  faihng  health  on  the  other  ;  so  that 
while  longing  to  multiply  himself  into  a  hundred  missionaries 
he  was  increasingly  unequal  to  the  work  of  one. 

It  is  deeply  interesting  to  notice,  at  this  juncture,  the 
means  the  Lord  was  using  to  bring  about  purposes  of  His 
own  in  connection  with  this  little  Ning-po  Mission  of  which 
those  most  interested  in  it  never  dreamed.  Poor,  unin- 
fluential  and  without  what  would  ordinarily  be  regarded  as 
training  or  talent  for  leadership,  how  unlikely  that  Hudson 
Taylor  should  ever  become  the  founder  and  director  of  a 
world-wide  organisation  embracing  missionaries  from  all 
evangelical  denominations  and  every  Protestant  land.  Yet 
this  was  indeed  to  be  the  case,  for  He  who  is  the  great, 
the  only  Worker  still  dehghts  to  use  what  has  been  well 
called  "  God's  five-rank  army  of  weakness." 

Not  many  wise  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble, 
have  part  therein  :  ^  but  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  (or  put  to  shame)  the  wise  ;  and  God  hath  chosen 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty  ; 
and  base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God 
chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  things 
that  are  :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  His  presence.  .  .  .  According 
as  it  is  written.  He  that  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord. 

A  beginning  was  to  be  made  even  now  along  the  lines  of 
that  future  development,  and  how  were  Hudson  Taylor 
and  his  colleague  to  be  launched  upon  it  but  by  a  con- 
straining sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  need  and  their  own 
insufficiency  to  meet  it.  Fellow- workers  they  must  have 
to  enter  doors  of  opportunity  that  never  before  had  seemed 
so  open.     And  all   unconscious    of  what  lay  beyond   the 

1  I  Cor.  i.  26  ;  R.V.  margin ;  and  vers.  27-31  from  A.V, 


ABOVE  ALL  THAT  YE  ASK  OR  THINK       497 

step  to  which  he  felt  himself  led,   Hudson  Taylor  wrote 
home  early  in  the  New  Year  :  ^ 

Do  you  know  any  earnest,  devoted  young  men  desirous  of  serving 
God  in  China,  who  not  wishing  for  nnore  than  their  actual  support 
would  be  willing  to  come  out  and  labour  here  ?  Oh  for  four  or  five 
such  helpers  !  They  would  probably  begin  to  preach  in  Chinese  in 
six  months'  time  ;  and  in  answer  to  prayer  the  necessary  means  would 
be  found  for  their  support. 

Had  he  gone  on  living  quietly  at  Bridge  Street  it  might 
have  been  long  before  the  young  missionary  would  have 
been  driven  to  such  a  step.  There  he  and  ^Ir.  Jones  were 
able  to  overtake  the  work,  and  with  the  help  of  the  native 
brethren  might  have  carried  it  on  for  years.  But  removed 
suddenly  from  that  position  and  entrusted  with  larger, 
more  fruitful  labours,  the  result  was  very  different.  Here 
was  something  too  great  for  him ;  and  as  the  Lord 
wrought  with  them,  confirming  His  owti  Word  "  with 
signs  following,"  the  outlook  and  possibihties  were  over- 
whelming. 

If  souls  had  not  been  saved  in  the  hospital  and  the 
Christians  had  not  developed  in  usefulness  and  promise, 
the  situation  would  still  have  been  other  than  it  was.  But 
with  a  growing  family  manifesting  no  little  gift  for  spiritual 
ministry,  Hudson  Taylor  was  impressed  as  never  before  by 
the  need  of  watchfulness  in  utilising  the  resources  of  the 
native  church.  This  it  was  that  brought  him  to  the  point 
of  appealing  for  fellow-missionaries.  The  converts  must 
have  supervision  ;  as  yet  they  could  not  stand  alone.  The 
fall  through  pride  and  even  dishonesty  of  the  basket-maker, 
their  most  devoted  worker,  had  burned  this  upon  his  heart. 
Prayer  and  loving  personal  influence  alone  could  restore 
him  and  safeguard  others  ;  and  all  needed,  as  he  had  learned 
from  experience,  the  most  painstaking  instruction  in  spiritual 
things. 

And  beside  all  this,  the  care  of  the  hospital  was  proving 
too  much  for  his  strength.  With  sixteen  members  in 
fellowship  and  a  dozen  or  more  awaiting  baptism  ;    with 

^  In  a  letter  to  his  parents  in  Bamsley,  dated  Januar\'  i6,  i860. 

2  K 


498  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

work  opening  up  in  the  villages  round  about,  and  native 
Christians  fitted  to  undertake  it  if  only  they  could  have 
supervision  ;  with  no  difficulty  as  to  funds,  for  the  Lord 
was  abundantly  supplying  their  need,  both  he  and  Mr. 
Jones  were  so  run  down  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they 
could  get  through  present  duties.  Had  any  of  these  elements 
been  lacking  the  effect  produced  might  have  been  less 
definite,  but  taken  all  together  one  conclusion  only  was 
possible.  Help  they  must  have,  the  help  of  fellow- 
missionaries  willing  for  their  own  simple  line  of  things. 
So  the  appeal  went  home  that  was  to  result  in  the  coming 
out,  to  begin  with,  of  just  the  workers  prayed  for,  two  of 
whom  are  still  labouring  in  China  as  the  senior  members 
of  the  Inland  Mission.^  But  there  was  no  thought  in 
Hudson  Taylor's  mind  that  he  would  have  to  be  their 
leader,  indeed  there  was  no  immediate  thought  at  all,  save 
that  he  must  seek  in  one  way  or  another  to  meet  the  claims 
of  the  ever-growing  work. 

"  I  have  this  morning  sent  out  forms  and  tables/'  he  wrote  in 
Februar}'^,  "  to  a  house  in  a  neighbouring  village  that  we  have  been 
enabled  to  rent  for  a  school,  and  we  have  engaged  Mrs.  Tsiu  and  her 
son,  the  Teacher,  to  commence  work  both  among  boys  and  girls.  .  .  . 
Their  home  will  I  trust  be  an  influence  for  good  in  the  neighbourhood 
and  a  centre  from  which  we  may  preach  the  Gospel." 

And  then,  thinking  of  all  that  might  be  done  if  his 
suggestions  about  five  new  missionaries  were  carried  out, 
he  continued  : 

I  do  hope  father  will  take  up  the  idea.  .  .  .  The  people  are  perishing, 
and  God  is  so  blessing  the  work.  But  we  are  wearing  down  and  must 
have  help.  .  .  .  Pity  poor  China !  You  have  given  your  son,  give 
your  influence  too. 

But  month  after  month  went  by  bringing  no  response 
from  home.     There  was  sympathy  of  course  in  his  desires, 

1  First  of  the  five  was  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Meadows,  who,  after  half  a  century 
of  devoted  labours  in  China,  is  still  working  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Ning- 
po.  And  fifth  of  that  little  group  was  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Stevenson,  now  and 
for  more  than  twenty  years  the  Deputy  Director  on  the  field  of  the  China 
Inland  Mission 


ABOVE  ALL  THAT  YE  ASK  OR  THLXK       499 

but   no  encouragement   to  expect   that   helpers   would   be 
forthcoming. 

Hoping  much  from  a  brief  holiday,  Mr.  Taylor  closed  the 
dispensary  as  spring  came  on,  and  went  with  his  wife  and 
child  to  the  neighbouring  hills.  They  were  away  ten  days, 
and  he  seemed  greatly  benefited  ;  but  the  heavy  work  of  the 
hospital  soon  bore  him  down  on  their  return.  Then  it  was 
he  first  wrote  to  his  parents  about  the  precarious  state  of 
his  health,  and  that  he  had  reason  to  suppose  his  lungs  were 
affected  with  tubercular  trouble.^ 

"  It  is  a  comfort  under  these  circumstances,"  he  concluded,  "  to 
have  no  doubt  it  was  God  who  guided  us  into  the  position  we  now  hold  ; 
and  the  supply  of  funds  for  the  work  as  well  as  the  blessing  that  has 
rested  upon  it  confirms  one  in  this  conviction.  Here  at  any  rate  is 
my  present  post  of  duty,  and  I  trust  that  by  His  Grace  who  has  led 
me  hitherto  I  shall  not  leave  it  before,  nor  remain  in  it  longer  than  it 
is  His  will.  .  .  . 

"  Dearly  as  I  should  love  to  see  you  all  .  .  .  may  I  never,  never 
be  permitted  to  turn  back  from  the  Gospel  plough,  or  to  lay  down  my 
works  save  as  He  directs  who  has  called  me  to  so  honourable,  if  in 
some  respects  so  trying  a  post." 

Yet  at  the  very  time  this  letter  was  written,  tokens  for 
good  were  not  wanting  to  cheer  them  on  their  way.  It  was 
a  time  of  wonderful  blessing  in  the  home-lands,  and  the 
rising  tide  of  revival  was  sweeping  many  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Prayer  and  sympathy,  in  consequence,  were 
steadily  on  the  increase  for  missionary  work. 

"  A  kind  friend  has  been  raised  up,"  wrote  Mr.  Pearse  in  a  com- 
munication received  at  the  end  of  March,  "  who  sends  a  hundred 
pounds  each  to  Brother  Jones  and  yourself.  .  .  .  You  wilh  be  ^lad 
to  hear  that  the  revival  has  reached  London  and  hundreds  are  being 
converted." 

And  only  two  weeks  later  a  letter  was  received  in  Mrs. 
Berger's  handwriting  containing  a  bill  for  fifty  pounds. 

"  My  husband  is  very  anxious,"  she  said  amongst  other  encouraging 
things,  "  that  the  hospital  should  be  sustained.     It  appears  to  be  such 

^  A  letter  written  on  March  25. 


500  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

a  means  of  blessing.  And  as  other  openings  occur  he  hopes  you  will 
be  able  to  follow  them  up. 

"  Surely  this  is  a  day  calling  for  no  ordinary  activity.  People  are 
beginning  to  wake  up.  You  doubtless  see  The  Revival  and  other  papers. 
Stirring  meetings  have  been  held  all  over  London  and  in  many  parts 
of  England,  arising  out  of  the  week  set  apart  for  prayer  at  the  invita- 
tion of  Christians  in  India  (the  second  week  in  January'),  to  plead  for 
the  mighty  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church  and  in  the  world. 

"  Such  a  week  this  earth  never  before  witnessed.  Oh  that  glorious 
results  may  follow  !  I  feel  so  cold  and  lifeless,  and  long  to  be  in  the 
heart  of  these  mighty  workings.  But  such  is  not  my  privilege.  One 
has  to  learn  to  deal  with  the  Lord  alone,  and  not  to  limit  His  power 
to  seasons  or  even  places.  Ask  and  have,  is  His  way  of  it.  Believe, 
and  the  blessing  is  ours." 

Into  the  prepared  soil  at  home  a  httle  seed  was  to  fall 
that  would  take  root  and  grow  all  the  more  surely  because 
the  time  was  so  opportune.  Hudson  Taylor's  life,  past, 
present  and  to  come,  was  needed  in  the  providence  of  God 
to  foster  that  little  seed.  He  must  be  taken  home,  and 
that  before  long.  So  the  trial  of  faiUng  health  continued 
until  it  was  evident  that  a  voyage  to  England  was  the  only 
hope  of  saving  his  life. 

"  What  I  desire  to  know  is  how  I  may  best  serve  China,"  he  had 
written  early  in  May.  "  If  I  am  too  ill  to  labour  here  and  by  return- 
ing home  might  re-establish  health,  if  only  for  a  time,  or  if  I  might 
rouse  others  to  take  up  the  work  I  can  no  longer  continue,  I  think  I 
ought  to  try." 

But  now  in  June  his  letters  took  another  tone. 

"  I  trust,  if  it  is  the  will  of  God,"  he  wrote  to  his  parents,  "  that  .  .  . 
I  may  be  spared  to  labour  for  China.  If  not,  all  is  well.  I  am  very 
happy  in  Jesus.  Never  before  have  I  felt  Him  to  be  so  precious  a 
Saviour,  Lover,  Friend.  Sometimes  I  think  I  may  not  live  to  see  you  ; 
sometimes  I  hope  to  be  spared  to  labour  long  and  more  earnestly  than 
ever  for  China.  All,  all  is  known  to  Him  who  needs  to  know  all  .  .  . 
and  He  will  do  all  things  well. 

"  Do  not  think  me  selfish.  I  do  sorrow  for  the  grief  my  removal 
would  be  to  you  and  to  my  dear,  so  dear  wife.  I  would  fain  live  for 
your  sakes.  But  Jesus  is  so  lovely,  so  precious  !  All  must  sink  in 
comparison  with  Him." 


ABOVE  ALL  THAT  YE  ASK  OR  THINK       501 

Still  there  seemed  a  probability  that  the  voyage  might 
prolong  his  life,  if  nothing  more,  and  closing  the  hospital 
with  great  reluctance  the  Hudson  Taylors  set  out  for 
Shanghai  toward  the  end  of  June.  And  they  did  not  go 
alone.  Means  having  been  abundantly  supplied  by  recent 
gifts,  Mr.  Taylor  felt  gratified  in  accepting  the  services  of 
the  young  painter  Wang  Lae-djiin,  who  saw  that  his  beloved 
missionaries  were  unfit  to  travel  alone.  Immense  as  was 
the  distance  between  China  and  England  in  those  days, 
Lae-djiin  was  willing  to  leave  his  wife  and  child  in  his 
father's  home  and  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  with  those  to 
whom  he  owed  so  much.  And  they — well  they  never 
could  have  managed  the  journey  without  him.  His  presence 
also  was  a  precious  link  with  the  past  they  were  leaving 
behind,  and  encouraged  the  hope  that  fellow-workers  might 
be  given  them  in  England  to  whom  he  could  be  useful  as  a 
teacher  of  the  language. 

Many  arrangements  had  to  be  made  in  Shanghai,  and 
they  were  thankful  for  the  two  weeks  that  elapsed  before 
they  could  sail  for  home.  It  was  providential  that  they 
were  able  to  secure  passages  at  all,  for  the  Jubilee,  bound  for 
London,  was  the  only  vessel  by  which  they  could  have 
travelled  for  a  long  time  to  come. 

"  The  Captain  has  his  wife  with  him,"  wrote  Mr.  Taylor,  "  and 
seems  to  be  a  gentlemanly  though  unconverted  man.  He  looks 
irritable,  and  I  fear  may  make  it  hard  for  us  at  times.  But  we  look 
to  God  as  our  stay.  .  .  .  The  season  is  against  us.  We  shall  have  to 
beat  down  the  China  Sea,  and  may  expect  typhoons.     But  winds  and 

waves  obey  Him  still,  and 

.  .  .  The  worst  that  can  come 
But  shortens  the  journey  and  hastens  us  Home." 

One  great  mercy  remained  to  fill  their  cup  to  overflowing. 
A  much-loved  sister  in  the  home-circle  had  not  yet  given 
herself  to  the  Lord,  and  during  all  the  years  of  their  separa- 
tion Hudson  Taylor  had  daily  cried  to  God  on  her  behalf. 
Many  were  the  letters  he  had  written  pleading  \vith  her  to 
decide  the  question  of  her  soul's  salvation,  but  as  far  as  he 
was  aware  she  was  still  putting  it  off.     And  then,  the  very 


502  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

day  before  they  sailed,  a  mail  came  in  bringing  glad  tidings. 
His  prayers  were  answered  !  They  were  united  at  last,  an 
unbroken  family  in  the  Lord. 

Unable  to  write  to  her  before  nightfall,  the  brother  roused 
himself  at  three  o'clock  next  morning,  and  in  spite  of  great 
weakness  traced  a  few  lines  in  pencil,  the  last  he  was  to 
write  from  China  for  several  years. 

"  In  view  of  my  ill-health/'  they  read,  "  and  the  possibility  of  my 
removal,  a  burden  has  been  on  my  mind,  now  thank  God  removed. 
Cleave  to  the  Lord,  my  doubly -dear  sister,  with  full  purpose  of 
heart,  and  you  will  indeed  find  your  joy  to  be  full." 

Daybreak  that  summer  morning  —  and  as  the  brown 
waters  of  the  Yangtze  were  left  behind  them,  how  the 
travellers'  hearts  would  go  up  to  God  !  With  what  thankful- 
ness they  looked  back  over  long  years  of  "  goodness  and 
mercy "  in  China ;  with  what  confidence  they  looked 
forward  to  "  goodness  and  mercy  "  still  through  all  the 
untried  wa}^ 

He  cannot  have  taught  us  to  trust  in  His  Name, 
And  thus  far  have  brought  us,  to  put  us  to  shame : 

Each  sweet  Ebenezer  we  have  in  review. 

Confirms  His  good  pleasure  to  help  us  right  through. 

The  voyage,  though  not  prolonged  beyond  four  months, 
was  an  unusually  trying  one,  on  account  of  illness  and  the 
awful  temper  of  the  captain,  and  the  little  party  had  no 
comfort  but  in  one  another.  Often  they  prayed  together 
in  Chinese,  and  talked  over  Ning-po  days  the  way  in 
which  the  Lord  had  led  them.  Often  too  they  thought  of 
the  future,  and  dwelt  on  the  time  when  with  restored  health 
and  fellow-workers  given  in  answer  to  prayer  they  might  be 
returning  to  China  by  the  blessing  of  God.  But  never  on 
quiet  nights  in  the  prow,  never  under  the  shining  stars, 
never  in  moments  of  most  earnest  prayer  or  appropriating 
faith  did  they  imagine  what  really  was  to  be. 

What  dream  or  desire  could  reach  to  it  ?  China  open, 
open  from  end  to  end  ;  an  "  Inland  Mission,"  working  in  its 
most   distant   provinces ;     a   thousand   stations   and   out- 


ABOVE  ALL  THAT  YE  ASK  OR  THL\K       503 

stations  manned  by  hundreds  of  missionaries — what !  more 
than  nine  hundred,  when  they  were  praying  for  five  ?  Yes, 
and  the  converts  !  How  could  they  picture  the  thirty 
members  of  the  Church  so  dear  to  them  multiphed  to  more 
than  thirty  thousand,  and  the  Httle  company  of  native 
workers  increased  to  more  than  two  thousand — pastors, 
teachers,  evangehsts,  Bible-women,  all  following  in  the 
steps  of  Nja  and  Tsiu  and  Wang  Lae-djiin  ?  And  as  to 
money,  what  flight  of  imagination  could  have  suggested  a 
million  and  a  half  sterling  given  in  answer  to  prayer  within 
the  next  fifty  years  ?  A  million  five  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  not  dollars,  put  into  their  hands  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  China,  and  that  without  a  collection  or  a 
single  appeal  for  financial  help.  Impossible  indeed  would 
it  have  seemed,  even  with  all  their  knowledge  of  Him 
with  whom  they  had  to  do  : 

"  A  God  that  worketh  for  him  that  waitcth  for  Him." 
No,  they  only  prayed  and  trusted,  the  future  veiled  from 
their  eyes.  All  that  Hudson  Taylor  saw  was  the  great  need 
and  the  unutterable  privilege  of  giving  oneself,  one's  all,  to 
meet  it,  in  fellowship  with  Christ.  Going  home,  invalided 
though  he  was,  few  if  any  expecting  to  see  him  return,  one 
longing  only  filled  his  heart,  one  prayer— with  his  remaining 
strength  to  do  something  more  for  China,  whether  by  life 
or  by  death. 

"  Oh  there  is  such  a  boundless  sphere  of  usefulness,"  he  had  written 
in  one  of  his  last  letters,  "  but  the  labourers  are  few,  weak,  worn  and 
weary.  Oh  that  the  Church  at  home  were  awake  to  its  duties,  its 
privileges  !     How  many  would  then  come  and  labour  here.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  not  given  up  hope  of  seeing  you  and  your  dear  husband 
join  us.  [Written  to  his  sister  Amelia,  recently  married  to  Mr. 
Broomhall.]  I  believe  you  will  yet  come.  I  believe  you  will  be  sent 
by  God.  And  a  happy  work  you  will  find  it.  We  have  only  the 
Lord  to  look  to  for  means,  for  health,  for  encouragement— and  we 
need  no  other.     He  gives  us  all,  and  He  best  knows  what  we  need. 

"Dear  Brother  and  Sister,  do  come  !  .  .  .  'Come  over  and  help 
us.'  .  .  .  Had  I  a  thousand  pounds  China  should  have  it.  Had  1 
a  thousand  lives  China  should  claim  every-  one.  No,  not  China,  but 
Christ  !  Can  we  do  too  much  for  Him  ?  Can  we  do  enough  for 
such  a  Saviour  ? 


504  THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 

Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine. 
That  were  an  offering  far  too  small ; 

Love  so  amazing,  so  divine. 

Shall  have  my  life,  my  soul,  my  all." 

And  as  they  followed  faithfully,  living  out  the  spirit  of 
their  prayers,  the  reality  of  their  consecration,  God  in  His 
infinite  faithfuhiess  did  the  rest. 


To  be  continued,  D.V.,  in 

Hudson  Taylor  and  the  China  Inland  Mission: 

The  Growth  of  a  Work  of  God. 


How  good  is  the  God  we  adore, 

Our  faithful,  unchangeable  Friend  ; 
Whose  love  is  as  great  as  His  power, 

And  knows  neither  measure  nor  end. 

'Tis  Jesus,  the  First  and  the  Last, 

Whose  Spirit  shall  guide  us  safe  home ; 

We'll  praise  Him  for  all  that  is  past. 
And  trust  Him  for  all  that's  to  come. 

J.  Hart. 


505 


INDEX 


Aldersey,  Miss,  Ning-po,  308,  403,  410, 
422-5,  432-7,  446 

American    Baptist    Missionary    Union, 
173,  402,  450.  466 

American  Presbyterian  Mission,  402, 416 

Amoy,  339 

Am-po,  379-80 

Answers  to  prayer — 

conversion  of  Hudson  Taylor,  66 
conversion  of  cousin,  160 
conversion    of      dying     patient     in 

London,  179-80 
conversion  of  sister  Louisa,  501 
daUy  bread,  for,  449,  453 
double  answer  at  Hull,  132-8 
during  severe  illness,  166-9 
in  financial  need,  248,  449,  453 
from  perils  at  Tung-chow,  291 
hospital  supplies,  for,  489-91 
house  at  Shanghai,  for,  315 
house  at  Tsung-ming,  for,  327 
needed  clothing,  for,  444 
Mrs.  Taylor's  Ufe  spared,  478-9 
on  voyage  to  China,  188,  190,  196-7 

Appeal  for  fellow-workers,  497-8 

Arrival  at  Shanghai,  202 

of  Dr.  Parker  and  family,  245 
of  Mrs.  Jones  and  family,  407 

Ball,  Richard,  of  Taunton,  90 
Baptisms  at  Ning-po,  405,  449,  466,  480, 

493 
Barbour,  Mrs.,  of  Bonskeid,  364 
Barnsley,     early     home     of      Hudson 

Taylor,  36-42 
first  Methodist  class  meeting,  13 
Pinfold  Hill  Chapel,  21 
Bashford,  John,  31 
Bausum,  Mrs.,  432-3,  435,  447 
Berger,    Mr.    and   Mrs.    W.    T.,   276-7, 

305,  322-3,  371,  401,  412,  492,  499 
Betty  Shaw's  healing,  4 
Bird,  Mr.  Charles,  159,  177,  181-3,  251 
Birth  of  Grace  Hudson  Taylor,  483 


Blackburn,  Thomas,  farmer,  13 
Blacktown  (VVu-tien),  353 
Bonham,  Sir  George,  181 
Borrowed  money,  ethics  of,  419,  430 
Bowers,  Captain,  360-64,  407 
Bowring,  Sir  John,  334-8,  413 
Box  from  Swatow,  444 
British  attack  on  Canton,  412 
British  Consul,  letter  from,  353 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  181, 

185, 293 
Brook    Street     Meeting,     Tottenham, 

116 
Broomhall,    Mr.    Benjamin,    258,    371, 

372,  427,  503 
Broomhall,    Mrs.    Benjamin,    51,    503. 

See  Taylor,  AmeUa  Hudson 
Brown,  Mr.  George,  185 
Brown,  Thomas,  of  St.  Mary  Axe,  171, 

178 
Buddhism,  evils  of,  351 
Buddhist  "  Holy  Man,"  256 
Burden,  Rev.  J.  S.,  205,  206,  307,  308, 

309,  416,  446 
Burdon,  Mrs.,  illness  of,  237 

death,  243 
Burland,  Hugh,  21 
Burns,  William,  of  China — 

allusions  to,  84,  130,  387-8,  406,  408, 

417,  418 
antecedents  of,  339 
return  to  China,  339 
evangelistic  journeys   with   Hudson 

Taylor,  341-58 
letter  to  his  Mother,  343 
in  Chinese  dress,  343-4 
man  of  prayer,  a,  346 
removal  to  Swatow,  362 
work  at  Swatow,  369,  371,  376,  379 
taken  prisoner  to  Canton,  381 
story  of  closing  years,  382 
his  last  message,  382-3 
poem  on,  by  Dr.  Grattan  Guinness, 
383-4 


506 


INDEX 


507 


Called  to  a  wider  sphere,  488 
Canton,  British  attack  on,  412 
Ch'ang-an,  389 

Change  of  vision,  a,  286,  3 10- 11 
Childhood  of  Hudson  Taylor,  amusing 

anecdotes,  39-42 
Children  in  the  faith,  467-8 
China   Inland  Mission,   382,   400,   448, 

458,  467,  498,  502 
China   the   Gibraltar   of   Heathenism, 

52,  404 
Chinese    author,    his    jmportant    dis- 
covery, 298 
Chinese  dress  considered,  310 

adopted  by  Hudson  Taylor,  31O 

adopted  by  William  Burns,  343-4 

comfort  of,  345 

details  of,  319,  330 

opinion  of  home  friends  on,  371 
Chinese  EvangeUsation  Society,  90, 144, 

149.  153,  157-9.  175,  411,  419.  430 

Hudson     Taylor's     relations     with 
committee  of,  157,  160,  175,  177, 
181-3,  263,  272,  304,  309,  312-13, 
337,  419.  430 
Chinese  Union,  the,  89 
Church  Missionary  Society,  402 
Chusan,  island  of,  402 
Cobbold,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  308,  402,  429 
Conversion  of  Hudson  Taylor,  66 

of  James  Taylor,  stone-mason,  5 

of  Betty  Taylor,  9 

of  Louisa  Taylor,  501 

of  dying  patient  in  London,  179-80 

of  Tom  Hodson,  160 

of  Kuei-hua,  305 

of  Neng-kuei,  467 

of  Mr.  Nyi,  440 

of  Teacher  Tsiu,  465 

of  Mrs.  Tsiu,  466 

of  Farmer  Wang,  473 

of  Painter  Wang,  477 
Converts  at  Tsung-ming,  329,  336 

Ning-po,  465-6,  467,  471-2,  480,  493 
Coolie     traffic,     iniquities    of,     366-7, 

382,  481 
Cycle  of  Cathay,  402 

Death  of  Mrs.  Burdon,  243 

Mr.  Quaterman,  443 

Mrs.  Parker,  486 

Convert  Dzing,  495 
Decision  re  surgeon's  degree,  177 
Deepening  experiences,  238 
De  la  Porte,  Dr.,  370,  418 
Denton,  John,  weaver,  13 
Difficulties  in  Shanghai,  209-48 
Distribution  of  Scriptures  and  tracts, 

254,  266,  296,  303,  417 
Double  Island,  Swatow,  363,  369 


Drainside  lodgings,  Hull,  119,  120 

fare  to  Hull,  129 
Dumfries,  the,  farewells  on,  185-7 

voyage  of,  184-203 
Dyer,  Mr.  John,  403 
Dyer,  Samuel  (Rev.),  309,  404 

daughter  of,  309 
Dyer,   Miss  Burella,   403,   416,   424-5, 

433.  446 
Dyer,  Miss  Maria — 

introduced,  410-11,  416 

life  sketch,  422-3 

God-implanted  affection,  424 

a  rugged  path,  424-33 

a  providential  waterspout,  435 

plighted  troth,  436 

sister's  marriage,  446 

obstacles  cleared,  450 

a  happy  bride,  455 
Dzing,  peddler,  471,  495 

Early  spiritual  experiences — 

schooldays  and  soul  difficulties,  58-62 
deep  impression  of  address  by  Henry 

Reed,  60 
soul  perils  as  bank  clerk,  63 
ministry  of  tracts,  62,  66 
conversion,  66 
full  surrender  for  service,  70 
first  regular  Christian  work,  71 
inward  call  to  China,  78-9 
first  public  address,  105 
Edkins,  Dr.,  of  China,  204,  206,  235 

journey  with,  254-62 
Elgin,  Lord,  466 
English      Presbyterian      Mission      at 

Swatow,  365 
Ethics  of  borrowed  money,  419,  430 
Evangelistic  journeys  from  Shanghai — 
No.    I.  With  Mr.  Edkins,  255-62 
„      2.  Alone,  265-9 
„      3.  With  other  Missionaries,  270 
,,      4.  With  Dr.  Parker,  273-6 
,,      5.  With  Mr.  Burdon,  278-91 
,,      6.  Alone,  293-303 
„     7.  With    Messrs.    Burdon    and 

Parker,  307 
„     8.  From  Hang-chow  Bay  alone, 

318 
„      9.  To  Tsung-ming  alone,  327 
,,    10.  With  Mr.  Burns,  341 
,,    II.  With  Mr.  Bums.  359 
livangelistic  work  on  Hwang-poo  Kiver, 

253 
Excursion    to    Woo-sung   and  pirilcius 

return,  235 
Experiences.     See  Early  Spiritual 

Failing  health,  trial  of,  499 
Famine  orphan's  career,  419 


5o8 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 


Famine  refugees  in  Shanghai,  418-19 
Fang  Neng-kuei,  461 
Farewells  on  the  Dumfries,  185-7 
Feeding   the   hungry  at  Ning-po,  448, 

452 
Fighting  in  Shanghai,  208,  241-2,  271 
Financial  cares  and  high  prices,  215, 

239-40 
Financial  deliverances — 

at  Hull,  135-8 

in  London, 166-9 

in  China,  401,  449,  453.  499 
First  attempt  to  learn  Chinese,  86-7 
First  Chinese  woman  baptized,  466 
First  convert  in  China,  305,  322 
First  Protestant  Girls'  School  in  China, 

402 
First  visit  to  London,  115 
Formosa,  406 
Frost,  Mr.  Robert,  185 
Fushan  Mountain,  ascent  of,  299 

Gibb,  Livingston  and  Co.,  248 

Girls'     School,    First     Protestant,     in 

China,  402 
Gossner,  John  Evangelist,  90 
Gough,  F.  F.  (Rev.),  402,  421,  438,  455, 

465 
Gough,  Mrs.,  438 

Green  Grass  Island,  294,  299,  300,  302 
Grif&th,  John,  Dr.,  206 
Gutzlaff,  Dr.,  of  Hong-kong,  87-9,  91-2, 

94.  172 
Gutzlaff  Island,  199 
a  retrospect,  362 

Hai-men,  inquiries  at,  341 

Hai-men,  city  of,  282 

Hai-ning,  389,  390,  391 

Hai-yen,  city  of,  319 

Hamburg,  Th.  (Rev.),  365 

Hankow,  467 

Hardey,  Dr.  Robert,  of  Hull,  104,  105, 

107,  132,  135 
Hardey,  Mrs.  Richard,  no 
Hart,  Robert  (Sir),  448,  452,  453 
Harvey,  F.,  Vice-Consul,  334 
Healing  of  Betty  Shaw,  4 

of  converted  Chinese  woman,  471 

of  Farmer  Wang,  474 

crl  Mrs.  Hudson  Taylor,  478 
Hindrances,  God's  way  in,  311 
Hodson,  John,  148 
Hodson,  Tom,  156,  160 
Holiday  in  houseboats,  481-2 
Hospital  work  in  London,  161 

at  Ning-po,  488-500 
House  at  North  Gate,  232,  244 

at  South  Gate,  305,  3i5 
Howard,  John  Eliot,  116 


Howard,  Robert,  116,  117 
Howard,  Theodore,  171 
Hudson,  Amelia,  26-7 
Hudson,  Benjamin  (Rev.),  25 
Hudson,    Benjamin,    portrait   painter, 

155 

Hudson  family  as  artists,  26,  no,  155 

Hull,  life  at,  104-50 

Hung  Siu-ts'iien  (leader  Tai-ping  Re- 
bellion), 172-3 

Infidel  struck  blind,  14 
Inland  China  open  to  foreigners,  466 
I  Inquirers  at  Hai-men,  341 

at  Nan-zin,  349-52 

at  Shanghai,  417 

at  Ning-po,  440-43,  461-68,  493 
Island  of  Chusan,  402 

Jesuit  intrigue,  252 

Jones,  Mr. — 

arrival  with  family,  407 

visit  to  Shanghai,  407 

trials  on  outward  journey,  410 

anxiety  in  Ning-po,  414-15 

work  in  Shanghai,  417-18 

work  in  Ning-po,  429,  435,  441-2,  460 

pastor  of  Church  in  Ning-po,  463 

Jones,  Mrs. — 

work  among  Chinese  women,  410,  432 
attacked  by  small-pox,  421 
sympathy  with  Hudson  Taylor,  421 
interview  with  Miss  Aldersey,  432-3 

Journeys,  Evangelistic.     See  Evangel 
istic  journeys 

Ka-shing,  visits  to,  259,  396-7 

history  of,  259 
King,  Edward  (Rev.),  330 
Knee,  John,  6,  13 
Knowlton,  J.  M.  (Rev.),  402 
Knowlton,  Mrs.,  450 
Kuei-hua,  confession  of  faith,  305 

baptism  of,  322 

faithful  services  of,  491 

Ladies'  Prayer  Meeting,  432,  435 
Lang-shan  Hills,  299 
Last  bag  of  rice,  491 
Lechler,  R.  (Rev.),  365-6 
Letter  of  Credit  delayed,  248,  272 
Letters  to  Parents,  210,  220,  233,  239, 
273.  3",  365,  497 
to  Father,  145,  375 
to  Mother,  127,  128, 129, 141, 147, 158, 

159,  175,  177,  183,  330,  334,  389 
to  Sister  Amelia,  76,  96-9,  105,  124, 
127,  183,  208,  221,  226,  229,  319, 
321,  344,  352,  369,  371,  372,  412, 
425,  426-7 


INDEX 


509 


Letters  to  Sister  Louisa,  337-8 

to  George    Pearse,  98,  100,  loi,  211, 
224,  250,  293,  337 

to  John  Hodson,  143 

to  Miss  Stacey,  225 

to  friend  at  Hull,  318 

to  a  friend,  372 
Liang  A-fah,  173 

Literary    work   of   Shanghai    mission- 
aries, 206 
Lo  Ah-tsih,  467 
Lockhart,  Dr.,  205-6,  209,  407 
London  Mission,  Shanghai,  204 
Lord,  Dr.,  402 
Lowrie,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  361 
Liu  River,  295 

Macao,  churchyard  at,  404 

McCartee,  Dr.,  402 

McCartee,  Mrs.,  488 

McGowan,  Dr.,  402 

Manchuria,  382 

Manchuria    and    United    Missions    in, 

383 
Mandarin  healed,  380 
Martin,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.,  402,  448 
Marvellous      recovery      from      blood- 
poisoning,  166 
Meadows,  J.  J.  (Rev.),  498 
Medhurst,  Dr.,  85,  88,  204,  207,  209, 

359 
Medical  outfit  destroyed  by  fire,  387 

replaced,  401,  407 
Medical  work — open  doors,  275 
Million  New  Testaments,  181 
Milne,  William  (Rev.),  86 
Missionaries      in      Shanghai,     literary 

labours  of,  206 
Missionary     Societies    of    Basel     and 
Berlin,  90 

of  Barmen  and  Cassel,  90 
Missionary  welcome  to  Shanghai,  205 
Moh-tz-in,  457 

Moravians  of  Herrnhut,  90,  92 
Morris,  Captain  A.,  184,  194 
Morrison,  Dr.,  of  Canton,  51.  86,  404 
Moule,  Archdeacon,  465,  481 
Muirhead,  Dr.,  206 
Miiller,  George,  of  Bristol,  90,  113,  400 

Nan-hwei,  city  of,  267 
Nan-king,  city  of,  293,  393 
Nan-zin,  341,  349 

inquirers  at,  349'52 
Neatby,  William,  112 
Neng-kuei,  basket- maker,  467 

fruitful  service,  472-7 
Nevius,  Dr.,  402,  451 
Nevius,  Mrs.,  451-2 
Newchwang,  382 


Ning-po,  "  City  of  the  Peaceful  Wave," 

401 
Ning-po :   Life  at — 
preaching  tour  to,  307 
frustrated  journey  to,  388-98 
seven  weeks  at,  401-7 
return  to,  409 
settled  work  at,  430-500 
trying  experiences  at,  430-49 
I       feeding  the  hungry  at,  448-52 
marriage  at,  455 

new  home  on  Bridge  Street,  457-8 
in  charge  of  hospital  at,  488 
baptisms  at,  405,  449,  466,  480,  493 
inquirers  at,  440-43,  461-8,  493 
outbreak  of  rioting,  482-3 
Nioh-wang  monastery,  455,  457 
Novel-reading,  opinion  on,  378-9 
Nyi,  Mr.,  conversion  of,  440-4J 
baptism,  449 

Obedience  to  Parents,  437 
Opium  curse,  the,  366,  412-13,  48a 

war,  the  second,  412,  459 
Origin  of  idols,  350 
Outbreak  of  rioting  in  Ning-po,  482-3 

Parents  and  childhood's  home,  33-57 

obedience  to,  437 

See  Letters  to 
Parker,  Dr.,  China — 

a  new  colleague,  223 

arrival  with  family,  245 

evangelistic   journeys  with    Hudson 
Taylor,  273-6,  307 

removal  to  Ning-po,  311 

work  at  Ning-po,  388,  400,  405 

new  hospital,  479 

death  of  Mrs.  Parker,  486 

return  to  Scotland,  486-7 
Parker,  Dr.  Peter,  52 
Pashley,  Jonathan,  13 
Patterson,  Alexander,  5 
Pawson,  J.  (Rev.),  4 
Pearse,  Geo.,  secretary  Chinese  Associ- 
ation, 90,  98,  100,   loi,   115,   m, 
157-9.  185,  499 

letters  to,  98,  100,  loi,  211,  234,  250. 

293.  337 

Peckitt,  Timothy,  13 

Peking,  382,  412,  459.  4^6 

Peking  University,  402 

Peril  in  dissecting-room,  165 

Perils  at  sea — 
storm  on  Welsh  coast,  188-90 
drifting  on  shore  at  New  Guinea,  196-8 
from  bullets  at  ShariKhai.  241-2 
from  robbcjs,  353-8,  393 
from  soldiers  at  Tung-chow,  289 
from  gunboats,  235 


510 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SOUL 


Pilgrim    Missionary    Institute    of    St. 

Chrischona,  90,  227 
Pinfold  Hill  Chapel,  Barnsley,  21 
Pioneer  difficulties,  238-9 
Plot  to  kill  Europeans  at  Ning-po,  414 
Plunkett,  Mr.,  185 
Prayer,    answered.      See    Answers    to 

Prayer 
Presbyterian  Missions,  American,  402, 

416 
Irish,  383 

United,  Manchuria,  383 
Printing  with  movable  types,  404 
Printing  with  Romanised  types,  465 
Providential  waterspout,  a,  435 
Purchase  of  Chinese  boat,  264 

Quaterman,  Mr.,  235,  406 
illness  and  death,  443 

Rankin,  Mr.,  402 

Rappard-Gobat,  C.  H.,  227 

Rebellion,     Tai-ping.       See    Tai-ping 

Rebellion 
Reed,  Henry,  of  Tasmania,  5o 
Removal  to  native  city,  Shanghai,  232 
Revival  in  eighteenth  century,  9 

in  Great  Britain  (1859),  499 
Reward  outweighing  sacrifice,  126 
Robbery,    a,  overruled  for  good,  388- 

400 
Roberts,  F.  J.  (Rev.),  of  China,  173 
Romanism  in  China,  52,  252,  334,  337, 

338 
RufSes  Boarding-house,   Soho  Square, 

155 
Russell,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  402,  424 

Sabbaths,  how  spent,  57,  71,  114,  328, 

463-4 
San-sin,  382 

Scottish  Bible  Society,  382 
Scriptures,    distribution   of,    254,    266, 
296,  303,  417 

in  Romanised  type,  463-5 
Seymour,  Admiral,  413 
Shanghai — 

arrival  at,  202 

commencement  of  work  in,  233 

settlement  life  in,  204-32 

settlement,  return  to,  244-5 

house  at  North  Gate,  232,  244 

house  at  South  Gate,  305,  315 

school  at  South  Gate,  305 

difficulties  in,  209-48 

inquirers  at,  417 

fighting  in,  208,  241-2,  271 

missionaries  at,  204-6 

work    among    famine    refugees    at, 
317-19 


Shaw,  Joseph  and  Elizabeth,  4 
Shepherd,  Wm.,  gaol  governor,  22 
Shepherd,  Mary,  22 
Shipping  office  incident,  164,  167-9 
Si,  Mr.,  Chinese  teacher,  233,  253,  327 
Sin-k'ai-ho,  six  weeks  at,  333 

storm  brewing  at,  331 
Small-pox,  421,  443,  445 
Smugglers'  plot  frustrated,  353-8 
Souls  added  to  the  Chtirch,  480 
Soul-winners,  469-77 
Spiritual  joy  contagious,  493 
Stacey,  Miss,    of    Tottenham,   170-71, 

225 
Stevenson,  J.  W.  (Rev.),  498 
Stevens,  Abel,  LL.D.,  16 
Story  of  convict,  60 

of  half-crown,  132,  135 
Sungari  River,  382 
Sung-kiang  Fu,  256,  359 
Swatow — 

description  of,  359-60 

journey  to,  361-3 

home  at,  365 

work  at,  363-81 

parted  from,  381 

a  closed  door,  408,  418 

Tai-ping  Rebellion — 
origin  of,  172 

Hung  Siu-ts'iien  (leader),  172-3 
circulating  Scriptures,  174 
success  of  insurgents,  181 
war  at  Shanghai,  202 
battle  of  Muddy  Flat,  213 
interference  of  Europeans,  252 
Hudson  Taylor's  opportunity,  253 
end  of  Shanghai  Rebellion,  271 
height  of  its  power,  439 
rebels  at  Ning-po,  459 
Taoist  monastery,  402 
Tarn,  Joseph,  404,  436-7,  446,  450 
Tarn,  Miss  Maria,  404 
Taylor,     Amelia :      training     of     her 

children,  42-6 
Taylor,  Amelia  Hudson,  37,  49,  55,  65, 
68,  95,  104,  115,  139,  140-41 
letters    to,   76,   96-9,   105,  124,  127, 
149,  183,  208,  221,  226,  229,  319, 
321,  344,  352,  369.  371,  372,  412, 
425,  426-7 
Taylor,  Mr.  Arthur,  185 
Taylor,  Betty — 

conversion  after  marriage,  9 
kitch^i  cupboard  and  the  "  Lord's 

ninth,"  12 
Methodist  class  leader,  15 
Taylor,  Edward,  of  Barnsley,  6 
Taylor,  Hudson  :  Personal — 

birth  and  childhood's  home,  36-42 


INDEX 


511 


Taylor,  Hudson  :  Personal — 
life  at  Hull,  104-50 
life  in  London,  161-80 
departure  for  China,  184 
marriage  to  Maria  Dyer,  455 
birth  of  daughter,  483 
return  to  England,  503 

Taylor,  Mrs.  Hudson  (nee  Maria  Dyer) — 
visiting  Chinese  homes,  458 
teaching  the  children,  460 
teaching  the  converts,  465 
printing  on  own  press,  465 
healed  in  answer  to  prayer,  478 
birth  of  daughter,  4S3 
work  at  hospital,  489 
letter  to  Mrs.  Taylor,  sen..  488 

Taylor,  James,  chemist — 

marriage  to  Amelia  Hudson,  30 
chemist,  preacher,  Good  Samaritan, 

31-2 
dedication  of  first-born,  33-4 
views  on  neglected  China,  52 

Taylor,  James,  stone-mason — 
conversion  on  wedding  morn,  5 
Staincross  Ridge  to  Barnsley,  11 
religious  meetings  in  kitchen,  13 
ruf&ans    attempt    to    destroy  sight, 

14 
virago's  frying-pan  assault,  14 
John  Wesley  his  guest,  15 
Taylor,  John — 

marriage  to  Mary  Shepherd,  22 
prospers  in  soul  and  estate,  23-5 
Taylor,  Samuel  (Rev.),  quotation  from 

Recollections,  9 
Taylor,  William,  6 
Tea-shop,  evening  in,  342 
Testimony  to  sceptical  surgeon,  169 
Threatened  fine,  334-7 
Tien-tsin,  459 

Treaty  of,  466,  482 


T'o-p'u,  adventure  and  deliverance  at, 

375-6 
Tottenham  friends,  115 
Tracts,  distribution  of,  254,  266,  296, 

303.  417 
Treaty  Ports  of  China,  84,  87 
Treaty  of  Tien-tsin,  466,  482 
Tsiu,  teacher,  465-6 
Tsiu,  Mrs.,  465-6,  469-71 
Tsung-ming,  island  of,  278 

converts  at,  329-36 
Tung-chow,  visit  to,  287 
Typhoid  fever,  457 

Union  and  Communion,  426 

Vale  of  weeping,  227-8 

v..  Miss,  music  teacher,  95-9,   in-12, 

123-5 
Voyage  of  the  Dumfries,  184-203 
of  the  Jubilee,  502 

Wang  the  farmer,  467,  473 

happy  testimony,  484 
Wang  the  painter,  467,  475,  50i 
Wav,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  402,  407,  443,  447, 

'485 
Way,  Miss  G.  S.,  447 
Wedding  at  Ning-po,  455 
Wesley,  John,  4,  15,  17 
Whitworth,  John,  architect,  23,  84,  88 
Williamson,  Dr.  Alexander,  382 
Wilson,  Miss  Elizabeth,  17 
Woodcock,  William,  17 
Woodcock,  Miss  C,  17 
Woo-sung,  295 

Work  among  famine  refugees,  418-19 
Wylie,  Alex.,  205,  206,  208 

Yang-king,  305 
Yang-shae,  a  model  city,  300 
Yangtze  River,  278,  293 
Yangtze  Valley,  339 


THE    END 


Printed Iv  R.  ^  R.  Ci  akk,  Limiti'.p,  Rdinhur^h. 


512 

THE   CHINA    INLAND    MISSION. 

LONDON,  PHILADELPHIA,  TORONTO,  MELBOURNE,  &f  SHANGHAI. 

Founder:  The  late  Rev.  J.   HUDSON  TAYLOR,  M.R.C.S. 

General  Director:  D.   E.    HOSTE. 

Director  for  North  Arnerica  :  HENRY  W.  FROST. 

Philadelphia,  Penna.     .         .         .     1329  Walnut  Street. 
Toronto,  Ont 507  Church  Street. 


OBJECT. 

The  China  Inland  Mission  was  formed  under  a  deep  sense  of 
China's  pressing  need,  and  with  an  earnest  desire,  constrained  by  the 
love  of  Christ  and  the  hope  of  His  coming,  to  obey  His  command  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

CHARACTER. 

It  is  evangelical,  interdenominational,  and  international.  It  is  sup- 
ported entirely  by  the  free-will  offerings  of  God's  people,  no  personal 
solicitations  and  collections  being  authorised. 

PROGRESS. 

On  January  i,  191 1,  there  were  in  connection  with  the  Mission, 
968  missionaries  and  associates  (including  wives),  18  ordained  Chinese 
pastors,  5  5 1  assistant  Chinese  preachers,  304  Chinese  school  teachers, 
263  Colporteurs,  200  Biblewomen,  and  702  unpaid  Chinese  helpers. 
There  are  615  organised  churches,  271  schools,  46  dispensaries,  59 
opium  refuges,  and  8  hospitals.  There  are  now  25,155  communicants  ; 
36,469  converts  have  been  baptized  since  the  commencement  of  the  work. 

HOME  EXTENSION. 

The  Mission  originated  in  England,  in  1865.  In  1888  it  was 
extended  to  North  America,  and  in  1890  to  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
Also  there  are  connected  with  it  several  Associate  Missions,  in  the  United 
States,  Norway,  Sweden,  Finland,  and  Germany. 

NORTH  AMERICA. 

There  are  two  centres  in  North  America,  as  above,  one  in  Phila- 
delphia and  one  in  Toronto.  At  these  centres  there  are  Mission  Offices 
and  Homes ;  at  these  places  funds  are  received,  applications  from 
candidates  are  dealt  with,  and  outgoing  and  returning  missionaries 
are  cared  for.  Correspondence  may  be  addressed  to  the  Secretary,  at 
either  Office. 


China.  Inland  Mission,  London,  England. 


immen 
th  the 


Kweihwa 

TATUf 


MAP      OF      CHINA. 

All  Protestant  Mission  Stations  in  China  up  to  June,  1866  (when  the  C.I.M.  Lammemuir  Party  sailed)  are  underlined  in  black 

All  other  places  are  the  Stations  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  only,  which  (with  the  exception  of  Ningpo  and  Fenghwa)  have  been  opened  : 


1 


Statx/orde  Grt^Bsinif'Ln 


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mSlt,»m,.... 


f^A 


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863 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  San  Diego 


DATE  DUE 

FEB  2  6  1973 

^B  ^  7  ^"^ 

AD' 

fi^P^       ^      ■'Hi 

CI  39 

UCSD  Libr. 

